A Continent apart
by SlipknotGhidorah
Summary: Roark goes over to the Unova region, and fossils aren't the only things that he finds there.
1. Desert Disaster

_I was looking at a lot of stories, and there were many that didn't feature Roark in them (and none of them centered around a Rampardos), so here's my story in which a Rampardos plays a huge role. I don't own Pokémon._

Roark was in Unova at the Relic Castle. He was with his Rampardos and a team of other excavators at the site. He was invited there to study the fossils found only in Unova, and he was excited to study fossils from another region. He carefully looked at a Plume fossil with a magnifying glass, studying the detail of each feather indentation on the rock when he heard his Rampardos acting up. "Rampardos?" he said before his dinosaur pokémon went running off. "Rampardos! Wait!" called out Roark, but his dinosaur couldn't hear him.

Rampardos charged and stopped when he saw a Krookodile hiding in the sand. Without thinking, he charged at it, but missed when Krookodile buried himself. He looked around in confusion, before Roark came running after him, calling him. "Rampardos! What were you thinking? Neither of us has ever been to the Unova region before, so we don't know what types of pokémon are around here. It could be dangerous!" scolded Roark. Rampardos drooped his head in shame before he heard Roark scream. The Krookodile had Roark's leg in his mouth. With an evil glint in his eyes, he dragged the Gym Leader down into the sand, with Roark kicking and screaming until the desert sands swallowed him up. Rampardos roared in anger, and tried digging up his trainer, but no matter how much he dug, he couldn't find Roark. _"Somebody help me!"_ screamed Rampardos _"That thing has my Roark!"_ The wind began picking up in the desert, sending sand flying, but Rampardos kept on digging, trying to find Roark. A loud roar came from behind Rampardos, and he turned around. At first, he could see nothing, but a shape emerged from the sands, becoming more clear as it approached Rampardos. Rampardos couldn't believe his eyes, but he saw somebody that he never thought he would ever see again. _"Little brother?"_ said Rampardos.

Izzy was digging in the desert with some of her pokémon. Her trusty Rampardos, Mickael, was by her side. He always enjoyed the desert, and he loved looking for fossils with his trainer. He would try digging up rocks, looking for any signs of a fossil in any of them. Izzy had managed to find a few fossils, but none of them of a pokémon fossil. Mickael looked to the sky, and saw a few dark clouds coming from the mountains along the horizon. He never did like the dark dust clouds along the horizon. They always reminded him of the day that he died several million years ago…

_Mickael and his siblings were busy munching on a few ferns in a forest millions of years ago. Many prehistoric pokémon were munching on plants and berries in peace when a huge fireball lit up the sky. It disappeared along the horizon, before a huge flash lit up the sky once again. Silence came, before a huge shockwave shook the earth, shaking Mickael off his feet. Mickael looked around, before another shockwave hit the area again, followed by another one. Many of the prehistoric pokémon began running away from the blast, but Mickael had no choice but to run out of the way or get flattened. Bastiodons rushed through the forest, but Mickael had difficulty getting rammed by them. In the confusion, he got separated by his family from the herds of stampeding pokémon as the sky darkened. Mickael screamed as a rouge Bastiodon rammed into his side, breaking his leg before it thundered off into the forest. Breathing heavily, Mickael looked to the sky one last time before smoke and dust choked off his lungs._

Mickael opened his eyes. That was then, and he had been alone in the earth for millions of years before he found a new family. He loved Spectral the female Dusknoir, and he loved her son, Night Shadow the baby Darkrai. He roared in pain from the loneliness that he endured that night as the sky darkened above him. Izzy looked up from her digging, then got up and walked to Mickael, placed a hand on his back, and said, "You were thinking about the night that you died, weren't you?" Mickael drooped his head as a single tear ran down his cheek. "Don't worry, Mickael. You're safe here with us," said Izzy. Mickael looked at Izzy and smiled, and gave a small wag of his tail. Izzy was right, he had family here now, and he wasn't alone anymore. Just then, the both of them heard screaming before they rushed off in the direction that it was coming from. They managed to see some trainer getting pulled under by a Krookodile with a Rampardos roaring at it. While the trainer was being dragged under, the Rampardos tried digging up his trainer, but he couldn't match Krookodile's speed. Without warning, Mickael headed for the other Rampardos without giving a pause. "Mickael! Wait!" called Izzy, but Mickael wasn't listening. "What is he up to?" asked the trainer to herself.

Mickael was hugging his older brother when his trainer approached. "So, I take it that you know this Rampardos, Mickael?" asked Izzy. Mickael nodded, then pointed to himself and lowered his other hand. He then pointed to the other Rampardos and moved his hand up high. He repeated the motion several times before Izzy said "So…he's your long-lost older brother, right?" Mickael nodded happily before the other Rampardos began shouting something. "Oh, right. Serperior, come out!" called out Izzy as a Serperior appeared. "Serperior, this Rampardos' trainer got pulled under by a Krookodile. Can you bring him to the surface by using Dig?" asked Izzy before Serperior nodded before she used Dig to go underground.

Izzy sat down and waited for Serperior to resurface, while Rampardos looked at his little brother and said to him _"Is she crazy? That thing has my trainer, and she sends the weirdest-looking Serviper to go after him! I don't see how a Serviper can defeat a Feraligatr that dragged down my trainer!"_ _"Listen brother, you're wrong on several accounts. That wasn't a Feraligatr, but a pokémon known as a Krookodile, a mix of both Dark and Ground types. She send down a Serperior, a Grass type. Krookodiles tend to have underground burrows where they keep their prey and nest. Your trainer should be alive when Serperior gets down there, that is if Krookodile hasn't started eating him already," _said Mickael. Rampardos looked sad, but Mickael placed his hand on his back and said _"Listen, I know these Krookodiles. They tend to keep their prey alive until later when they can't find food, and food is pretty hard to find in the desert as it is. Most likely, Krookodile went off to find more food to store until further notice. If your trainer has pokémon on him, he will use them to battle Krookodile first."_ Rampardos looked up at his brother, smiled, and said _"Thanks, little brother."_

Roark wasn't having much luck staying alive in Krookodile's den. He first sent out Geodude to battle the desert crocodile, but the little rock pokémon got crushed to nothing in Krookodile's jaws. Roark looked scared before he sent out Onix. Onix didn't fair much better as Krookodile dodged the rock snake's attacks before he used Brick Break to sever Onix's head from his neck vertebrate. Roark was terrified as Krookodile approached and opened his jaws. Roark couldn't think much as panic rushed through his systems as the desert crocodile approached the Gym Leader closer and closer. Suddenly, Krookodile screamed as a green tornado swallowed up the dark crocodile.

Roark looked and saw a gigantic green snake pokémon in the den with him. The snake slid to where Roark was and wrapped its tail around his body before dragging him to the new hole that it was digging. "Wait! Leave me alone!" screamed Roark, but he was dragged through the hole before he knew what was happening. The Leaf Tornado died down; leaving Krookodile slightly dizzy before he realized that his dinner was missing! He snarled before he started digging after Serperior. No one got away with his dinner, no one!

Serperior dragged Roark up to the surface and deposited him in front of Izzy. She looked at Mickael and said _"That guy was kicking and screaming like a little boy. I hope that I never save a guy like that again. Plus, I think that he peed while I was digging ourselves out."_ _"He did pee. Look at the dark stain in his…uh…pants I think,"_ said Mickael as he pointed to a dark spot between Roark's legs. The comedy was short lived as they heard an angry roar as Krookodile dug himself out of the ground and snapped at all of them. _"No one gets away with my dinner! No one!_" roared Krookodile. "I'll handle this. Lancelot, I choose you!" called Izzy as Lancelot, an Escavalier, appeared. Lancelot's armor gleamed in the moonlight. "Lancelot, X-Scissor!" exclaimed Izzy as Lancelot braced his lances for the attack. Krookodile charged, but was flung back by Lancelot's attack. Krookodile crashed headfirst into a rock wall, and lifted his head up, only to find Cottonees flying by. _"Oooh, look at all the little Cottonees. Goodnight!_" he said before he passed out.

Roark was breathing in heavily as he struggled to comprehend what had happened. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and nearly jumped before a voice said "Easy. No one's going to hurt you. You're safe now." Roark turned his head and saw a woman next to him with two pokémon that he's never seen before, a Rampardos, and…his Rampardos. "Rampardos?" said Roark as his Rampardos roared happily as it ran over to him and hugged his trainer. Roark felt relieved that his Rampardos was there as he embraced his pokémon. _"Brother?"___said Mickael. _"Huh? Oh, I'm just happy that my trainer is back,"_ said Rampardos as Roark petted him on his dome-like head. "Thank you for saving my life" said Roark to the female pokémon trainer. "Actually, it was Serperior who saved your life," said Izzy as she pointed to her grass snake pokémon. "Serperior" it said as she raised her body. "What was that thing that attacked me? I've never seen it before in my entire life" said Roark. "That was a Krookodile, a desert pokémon. Those things are both very aggressive and very sneaky when it comes to hunting down prey. You'll be surprised how many people disappear when wandering this desert," said Izzy. Roark looked worried when he looked to his right. "I came here with a team earlier today for a fossil excavation, but I'm worried since there's a number of pokémon that I've never seen in this region" said Roark. He then screamed out loud when he moved the leg that the Krookodile had in it's jaws. He clutched it as he hissed in pain. Izzy bent low and inspected it, then looked at Roark and said "I'm surprised that you leg is in a good condition as this." "Good condition? That thing broke my leg!" shouted Roark. "Listen, I've seen those things snap off limbs completely with their jaws. I've even seen one crush a car in half with its jaws once. You're lucky that your leg is still attached to your body, but you still need to go to a hospital," said Izzy. She turned her head to Mickael and said "Mickael, will you carry this man as the way you carry Night Shadow? His leg is broken." Mickael nodded, then picked up Roark, with Rampardos saying, _"How come you get to pick up Roark? He's my trainer."_ Mickael looked at Rampardos and said _"Have you every carried anyone gently?"_ Rampardos thought for a moment, then said _"Well, I did carry some fossils once, but I kept on dropping them…"_ Mickael shook his head, then followed Izzy, Lancelot, and Serperior as they trekked across the desert. "By the way, I never did get your name. I'm Roark, by the way" said Roark. "Nice to meet you, Roark. I'm Izzy," said Izzy.

When they got to the campsite, they saw what was a massacre. Equipment was destroyed, belongings were scattered, and there were blood stains everywhere. Roark looked pale as he surveyed the damage, then said "Wha-what happened?" "Looks like a whole group of Krookodiles attacked your campsite. Did your group have any pokémon to defend themselves?" asked Izzy. "Well, we did, but they were pokémon to help with the excavation. They weren't really well experienced for intensive battling," said Roark. Izzy shook her head then said "In a Krookodile-infested desert, having a few powerful pokémon to defend yourself is necessary," said Izzy as she pointed to Lancelot. "Escavalier" said Lancelot. Serperior hissed as she stood tense. Izzy looked on in concern, then looked at Roark and said, "Serperior only does that when she senses danger. Lets go" as she started walking. "Wait! What about all the fossils around here" said Roark. Izzy stopped, then looked at Roark and said "Are you mad? There's Krookodiles and who knows what else within this section of the desert. It's best that we get out of here while we still can." "Cof…agri…gus" a voice said before a body materialized out of the desert. Izzy looked at the Cofagrigus for a second before she turned around to her pokémon and screamed "Run!"

Rampardos, Mickael, Lancelot, and Serperior ran as fast as they could with Izzy running besides Mickael. Roark craned his neck to watch all the fossils that they left behind, but saw a few Krookodiles, Krokoroks, and Sandiles emerge from the sand. A Krokorok crunched a fossil and Roark passed out. _"Your trainer…did I hurt him?" _asked Mickael. _"No, he always acts like this whenever a fossil gets destroyed,"_ said Rampardos.

Later that night, Roark woke up in the hospital with his leg in a cast. Rampardos was next to him, sleeping with his head on the bed. Roark smiled, then stroked Rampardos behind the neck as he stared outside and watched the moon rise in the Unova sky. "Onix…Geodude…I'm sorry that I failed you" said Roark as a few tears appeared in his eyes.


	2. Nightmares and Memories

_I do not own pokémon._

A week passed by, and Roark's leg was feeling better. Izzy was talking with the head nurse and she said "Roark is ready to leave the hospital, but he needs a place of residence to stay until his bones knit completely." "He will be staying at my place in White Forest" said Izzy as she filled out some paperwork. "Remember, his leg needs to stay dry at all times" said the head nurse.

Roark was drinking a glass off water when Izzy came into the room. He put down the glass and looked at Izzy and said "So, will I be getting out of here today?" "Yes, apparently, your leg is healed enough to leave, but you need a place to stay until your leg heals thoroughly" said Izzy. Roark rubbed the back of his neck, then said "Well, I haven't made any hotel arrangements nor do I know anybody from this region to stay until my leg heals…" before Izzy interrupted him. "I filled out the paperwork, and you'll be staying at my house in White Forest" said Izzy. "Oh…" said Roark.

The blimp ride to White Forest was uneventful, and Roark was staring out the window most of the time. He saw a few flying pokémon that he couldn't identify, and he even saw some bizarre water pokémon as the blimp flew over some bodies of water. He saw some tall dark buildings on the horizon and he tapped Izzy on her shoulder. "Is that White Forest?" asked Roark. "No, that's Black City. The blimp actually stops there, and we have to walk to White Forest from there" said Izzy. "Is White Forest far?" asked Roark. "It shouldn't take too long. It's about a day's travel on foot" said Izzy.

Black City was huge. Roark was impressed by all of the neon lights on the dark buildings as he walked with Izzy into the city. "So…this is Black City" said Roark. "Yeah. A lot of trainers battle here, but most battle in Nimbassa City. That city is where all of the major battle tournaments happen, but this city is a close second" said Izzy. It took them a few hours to reach the outskirts of the city, and Roark sagged on his crutches. Walking in the city was easy with all of the paved sidewalks, but it took a lot out of him. Izzy stopped, then called out Mickael. "Rampardos" he said. "Mickael, could you carry Roark to White Forest? He's pretty tired from walking on his crutches all day" said Izzy. Mickael nodded, then gently picked up Roark as the three traveled to White Forest. Roark relaxed in Mickael's arms. He felt exhausted after all of the walking on his crutches and his one good foot. It wasn't long before he drifted off to sleep within Mickael's arms as he began dreaming of what he usually dreamed of…

_ Roark was back at the Oreburgh Mine, digging up fossils. He had dug up many fossils, and had just discovered an Aerodactyl fossil when it transformed into a Krookodile. Krookodiles began emerging from the walls, and all of the fossils that he dug up turned into Krookodiles. He was surrounded on all sides, and within the blink of an eye, they all clamped down on his limbs with their snouts. He screamed as they tore out his insides…_

"YAAAHHHAAA!" screamed Roark. Izzy and Mickael were staring at him as they walked. "Roark, what happened?" asked Izzy. "Nothing…it was nothing" said Roark. "Rampardos ramp ramp dos" said Mickael. "Mickael says 'You don't just don't wake up screaming.' We both know that you dreamed of something. Do you want to talk about it?" asked Izzy. Roark was silent for a moment, before he took a deep breath and said "I was dreaming that I was digging for fossils, and I was attacked by…those things." "Krookodiles?" she said as Roark nodded. Mickael said something, then Izzy turned her attention from Mickael to Roark and said, "Mickael said that you'll be safe at our house. White Forest is a rather peaceful place nearby a huge water source, so I doubt that we'll encounter Krookodile or any of his evolutions there. You won't believe how much that they hate the water." Roark remained silent as Mickael carried him the rest of the journey. He felt safer in the rock pokémon's arms than on the ground.

Roark was surprised on how peaceful White Forest was. Gigantic trees were everywhere, tall grasses sprouted on the ground, flowers bloomed everywhere, small ponds filled with water pokémon… Roark was silent as he took in all the life surrounding him. Mickael continued to walk for a while until Izzy said "See that white house with the Lum berries out front? That's my place." As they approached the house, Roark saw some flowers that appeared to be dancing, but after taking a second look, he realized that they were a type of flower pokémon. "What are those?" asked Roark as he pointed to the flower pokémon. "Those? They are Lilligant. Those are actually wild pokémon, but they love to come into the yard and play with my pokémon. There's many wild pokémon that do that if you live in White Forest," said Izzy.

When they got to the house, Izzy unlocked the door as Mickael brought in Roark. He gently placed Roark on the couch as Izzy headed into the kitchen. She came back with some leaves and said "Here Roark. Eat these. They'll make you better." Roark took the leaves, looked at them, shrugged, and then ate them. He gagged a bit, then said "What are these? They're so bitter." "They're Petillil leaves," said Izzy. "Petillil leaves? Um, what does this particular plant look like?" asked Roark. "Actually, Petillil are a type of pokémon. They evolve into Lilligant," said Izzy as Roark choked. "They came from a pokémon?" he said. "Yeah, but people eat their leaves if they're sick. We've been doing that for many years in Unova" said Izzy.

Night came, and Izzy had set up Roark's bed in the spare guestroom. "Sleep well, Roark," said Izzy. "Goodnight" said Roark as he rested his head on the pillow. Sleep overtook him as he closed his eyes.

_Roark was once again dreaming of digging up fossil pokémon, but this time, he was in the Relic Castle. He dug up a few Plume Fossils, and some Cover Fossils. He was pretty excited, and had just dug up a gigantic tooth of some sort when the ground began moving. Sand spewed up in all directions as the sound of loud flapping kicked up a sandstorm. When the sand settled, Roark opened his eyes and he saw a gigantic Aerodactyl. "Wow!" exclaimed Roark. The Aerodactyl sneered before the skin began peeling away, revealing red underneath. The snout grew longer as arms erupted from the wings. A gigantic Krookodile replaced the Aerodactyl as it stared coldly at Roark. "Onix! Geodude! Rampardos!" called out Roark as he summoned his pokémon. The three pokémon stared up at Krookodile before Krookodile roared and swallowed the three pokémon up as if they were nothing. Roark stared up at the Krookodile in fright before he screamed and started running. He ran and ran, but the ground suddenly lifted up and Roark found himself plunging down the Krookodile's throat. "No!" screamed Roark as darkness surrounded him._

_ He was inside Krookodile, surrounded by hundreds of Krokoroks, Sandiles, and Krookodiles. He saw his own pokémon being torn apart by the hundreds of snouts. Their screams echoed in his ears when the silence overcame him. Hundreds of eyes stared at him before they began charging at him. Roark screamed, before he felt himself being levitated. "Darkrai" he heard before he turned his head to his right, and saw a small Darkrai. "Darkrai? Are you the one causing all of this?" asked Roark. Darkrai giggled, before it reached out and grabbed Roark's hand. Darkrai pulled Roark as the two zoomed out of the pit of dark crocodiles and out into the night. Krookodile looked angry with Roark and Darkrai before Darkrai zoomed down with Roark. A gigantic Escavalier appeared and attacked the Krookodile, battling the colossal dark pokémon with its long lances. Roark's attention was fixed on the battle going on, before Darkrai tapped his shoulder. He looked down at Darkrai, who was pointing to a large purple cat pokémon with golden spots. Darkrai glided, and was on the cat pokémon and looking at Roark. Roark hesitated, but he heard a loud crash from behind him, and turned to see Escavalier still battling Krookodile. He made up his mind, and hopped on the cat pokémon with Darkrai. The cat sped out of the desert into a dark forest._

_ Trees were blurred as the cat continued to race past the trees, with some stars shining through some spots in the canopy. The ground sloped up as the cat pokémon raced uphill, then jumped off the cliff at the end of the hill. Darkrai and Roark were levitating off the cat pokémon as they floated upward. Roark looked down at the dizzying height, and couldn't help but feel sick as he saw the pitch-black darkness below him. Roark's hand held on tight to Darkrai's arm as he began breathing in faster and faster. Next thing that Roark knew, he was on the back of a gigantic Mothim. "Fwaaa" said Mothim._

_ The sky became more psychedelic in color as Mothim flew past the landscapes below. Iridescent bubbles floated as mists surrounded the three. Roark saw some fluffy cotton-like pokémon float past him. "Cottenee" they bleated. "Darkrai! Darkrai!" said the little darkness pokémon as it waved its arms in the air. The mists became thicker and thicker as Roark held on to Mothim tighter. Darkrai nuzzled Roark as Mothim flew deeper into the fog. They heard a loud roaring sound as flames burned through the mists when Mothim escaped into the night sky. A white pokémon with flames shooting out of its tail burned, leaving behind a long blaze of smoke and steam behind it. The pokémon turned and sped out of sight, leaving Roark in wonder. He looked down at Darkrai and asked, "Did you make up that pokémon?" Darkrai shook its head, then looked up ahead._

_Roark felt himself levitate off of Mothim as Darkrai led Roark to the stars. He saw Lunatones and Solrocks fly past them as the two sped off deeper into space. They came to Saturn with its long rings circling the planet. A purple and golden pokémon was seen flying in front of the planet, her long rings extending behind her. She turned her head and looked at Roark, before Roark felt himself being pulled back down to Earth. Darkrai was with him, as the two free fell down to Earth._

_Roark felt the wind blow against him as he fell with Darkrai back to Earth. He gripped Darkrai's arm tightly and closed his eyes. The next thing that he knew was that he landed on something moving. He opened up his eyes slowly, and found himself on an Aerodacytl. "Aero" it said as it flew. Darkrai was on Aerodactyl's head (between its horns) as Aerodactyl flew. "Darkrai, where are we going?" asked Roark. "Darkrai" it said as it shrugged. "You mean, you're not causing this part of the dream?" said Roark as Darkrai nodded. Roark tensed up as he held on to Aerodactyl but said nothing as the prehistoric pokémon flew across the sky. It was a while before Aerodactyl landed on a large gray cloud lined up with tall stone pillars. Darkrai got off, and motioned Roark to follow. With some hesitation, Roark got off and followed Darkrai beyond the pillars. A blinding flash of light was beyond the pillars, and as Roark's eyes adjusted, two silhouettes came out of the light. "Onix? Geodude?" said Roark as the two shadows came closer. "Nix" said Onix as Geodude said "Dude." "Onix! Geodude!" exclaimed Roark as he ran and hugged Onix as Geodude hugged Roark._

_Both Geodude and Onix looked sad when they looked at Roark, and Roark looked at the both of them and asked, "What's wrong?" "Listen Roark" said Onix "We don't have much time. The both of us were allowed to come back so we could say goodbye." "Wait! You could talk?" asked a surprised Roark. Geodude looked sadly at his trainer and said "Only here. Arceus gave us permission to come back so we could say goodbye to you. We came back to tell you that it wasn't your fault that we died. We would still have protected you if you didn't call on us." "But Geodude…" said Roark as Geodude placed his hand on Roark's shoulder. Geodude smiled sadly then said, "I know that you blame yourself, but you mustn't. We both managed to see a glimpse of what the future held for you and…well" as he looked at Onix. Onix nodded, then said, "You don't need to worry. Everything turns out all right. We'll miss you, Roark. We were both glad to have you as our trainer. Goodbye." "Onix! Geodude! Wait!" called out Roark, but his rock pokemon dissipated before everything turned dark._

_Darkrai was waiting with Aerodactyl when Roark came out. He said nothing as he climbed up on Aerodactyl and started crying. Aerodactyl took off, and flew away from the cloud. Darkrai floated over to Roark and placed a hand on his shoulder. Roark looked up, tears raining down his cheeks, and hugged Darkrai tightly. Darkrai was silent as Roark continued to cry. Darkrai thought back to when his own mother would cry. Mickael would come in, and hold Spectral as she cried. Hours would pass as Mickael held on to Spectral until she stopped crying. Darkrai would often wonder why would Mickael allow his mother to cry on him, but now he understood. He held on to Roark as the trainer cried._

Morning came and Roark woke up. He was silent for a while as he thought back to his dream. Darkrai was there, but there was also his Onix and Geodude. He thought back on what those two said, and lay there for a while. It wasn't long before he noticed that something was in the bed with him. He craned his neck, and saw that the little Darkrai that was in his dreams was next to him, sleeping. Roark widened his eyes in fright as shivers went down his spine…

Izzy was sleeping peacefully before she heard a loud scream. She bolted upright, then ran to where the screaming was coming from. She threw open the door and found Roark screaming as he saw the little Darkrai. "Roark! It's a little early for the screaming!" shouted Izzy. "What is that thing doing here!" screamed Roark. "That's Night Shadow, my Darkrai," said Izzy. Roark looked frightened as he said "Your Darkrai?" "I got him a long time ago from when he was still an egg" said Izzy. "And his parents didn't know that you took the egg?" asked Roark in a surprised manner. "His mother lives here, and I managed to capture the father as well" said Izzy. "So you have three Darkrais!" shouted Roark. "No, just the one. I had to trade away the father because none of my pokémon liked him, and Night Shadow's mother isn't a Darkrai. She's a Dusknoir," said Izzy. Roark looked stunned, before Night Shadow began crying. "Great, you got Night Shadow crying," said Izzy before they heard some loud footsteps in the hallway, and Mickael poked his head in. "Ramp ramp rampardos ramp?" asked Mickael. "Darkrai darkrai!" said Night Shadow before he glided over to Mickael and the two walked off. Izzy was silent for a moment, before she turned to Roark and said, "So…you want something to eat?"

Roark was eating his breakfast slowly as he began thinking about his dream again. "Roark? Is something on your mind?" asked Izzy as she drove her fork into her pancakes. "Hmm? Oh, nothing. I was just thinking of a dream that I had last night," said Roark. "Do you want to talk about it?" asked Izzy. Roark sighed, then began telling of the whole dream sequence that he had, from the fossil digging to where he was flying away from the cloud on Aerodactyl's back. Izzy was silent for a moment, then said "It seems that Darkrai made up part of the dream, but for the part involving your Onix and Geodude at the end within that place…it seems as that wasn't Darkrai's creation. I think that it was actually them telling you goodbye." Roark narrowed his eyes then said "I know that they died protecting me, but…I didn't need that part where they told me that it wasn't my fault. It was! I'm not sure if I could ever be a responsible Gym Leader again, or even a trainer, after having Onix and Geodude dying right in front of me." "Listen Roark, after what you told me, Onix and Geodude both loved you and protecting you was what they wanted to fulfil to prove that you meant that much to them" said Izzy before Roark cut her off. "And that's supposed to make me feel better? I would have rather lost my leg if it meant having Geodude and Onix alive right here! They both meant a lot to me, and we've been through a lot together! There's no way that you could know what I'm going through right now!" shouted back Roark. "Listen Roark! I've been through the exact same thing when I began seriously doubting my abilities as a trainer altogether! I know what you're going through!" shouted back Izzy. "No you don't! You can never understand what I'm going through!" shouted Roark as tears ran down his cheeks before he grabbed his crutches and walked out of the kitchen and into the backyard.

Izzy was silent when a hand was placed on her shoulder and a female voice said "Dusknoir?" "It's ok, Spectral. Roark is undergoing what we've gone through after…_he_ appeared," said Izzy. "Dusknoir dusk noir?" asked Dusknoir before Izzy shook her head. "No, he doesn't know the whole truth. He knows that Night Shadow came out of your egg and that I traded away Darkrai, but that's all that I told him. I didn't tell him of the night that you disappeared nor what we all went through and why we left Sinnoh" said Izzy. Spectral was silent as a single tear rolled out from her eye socket. She thought that no other trainer would ever go through what Izzy experienced, but it looks like that they found another…one that had his heart broken from the pain of losing a beloved pokémon.

Roark was outside crying as he thought about Onix and Geodude. He loved them, won many battles with them, and shared defeats with them. He could never replace those two pokémon out of all the pokémon on Earth. His heart remained broken as his head swam with what Onix and Geodude told him: _"It wasn't your fault that we died. You mustn't blame yourself. Everything turns out alright in the future."_ Roark was silent as he kept on thinking on what they said. How could things turn out all right in the future? How was he not responsible for their deaths?

Hours passed by as Roark kept on thinking about his dream. He had stopped crying, but was still depressed on how his pokémon died. He didn't notice on how dark it was until Izzy tapped him on the shoulder, he looked up, and she said, "It is dinnertime. I'm surprised that you haven't eaten lunch yet. You must be starving." "Thanks Izzy, but I'm not really that hungry" said Roark "Just…leave me alone." Izzy was silent before she stepped inside and closed the sliding glass doors. She turned to some of her pokémon in the kitchen and said, "Roark needs time alone. I remember when…that night when Spectral disappeared…" before she began sniveling. Mickael rubbed his snout against Izzy and she said "It's ok Mickael, it's ok. Sometimes I have those memories, but then I think and remember that we're all a family. I still think that Spectral nor any other pokémon should have suffered the way that she did." Mickael was silent as he held Izzy as she cried against her pokémon as he looked out at Roark. He was worried for that trainer in their yard…and for his brother if something were to happen to Roark.

Later that night, Mickael walked out into the yard and checked on Roark. Roark had fallen asleep, so with great care, Mickael carried the trainer into the house and into the guest bedroom. He gently placed Roark on the bed and covered him in the bed sheets. Roark looked so peaceful, but yet, he was also so sad as he slept. Mickael watched over Roark for a little while before he left the room and headed for Spectral's room. Spectral was still awake as she stared at the ceiling when Mickael entered. _"Still thinking about…him?"_ asked Mickael. Spectral turned her head and looked at Mickael before she said, _"Yes. Sometimes, he haunts my dreams. I sometimes wish that I never had that nightmarish experience, but then…"_ as she pushed herself up and looked at Night Shadow sleeping in his crib. He was sucking on his thumb as he slept peacefully, without a care in the world. _"…I think and wish that it hadn't happened any other way. Night Shadow means the world to me, and if that nightmare didn't happen in the first place, I would never have had that egg that would become him."_ Mickael sat next to Spectral and pulled her close to him as she rested her head beneath his chin. _"I remember that night when we found you in Darkrai's lair. I never fought so hard before in my entire life. I just wanted to find you and make sure that you were safe. I was so mad when I found out what he did to you. When I first found out that you were pregnant with his child, I wanted that thing out of you immediately. I didn't want him to accomplish with what he set out to do. I wanted him to fail so miserably in preventing his line from living on. But…"_ said Mickael as he looked towards Night Shadow, who was still sleeping while still sucking on his thumb _"…when your egg hatched, I saw with what was in that egg wasn't him, but something else. That egg was something else that I wanted to protect as if it were one of my own. Night Shadow wasn't that monster that hurt you, he was something that I wanted to protect."_ Night Shadow shifted a little bit in his sleep before he relaxed. Mickael looked at Night Shadow for a moment then said, _"Night Shadow will always be a part of my family, just on how you are. I just wish that he wasn't born though such circumstances"_ as tears leaked down his cheeks.

Roark woke up the next day, but felt exhausted and drained. He lay in bed as he continued to think about Onix and Geodude. After an hour passed, he pushed himself out of bed, and took a glance at the sky outside. It was very early, as the sun hadn't broken out on the horizon, but Roark still got up. He dressed, then headed outside as he sat in the chair by the circular table as he gazed out at the sky. He saw the stars disappear one by one and sighed. He wondered if Onix and Geodude were up there, watching him below. As the sky grew lighter and lighter, Roark saw some of the wild pokémon that lived near Izzy's house. He saw some Purrloins walk toward some berry trees and pick some of the plumpest berries before running off. A Patrat shook his paw at them, before climbing up the bark on one of the trees and grip on what it thought what was a berry. "Sewaddle!" the "berry" cried before a leaf-covered worm fell out of the tree. It looked mad, then shot its String Shot at the Patrat before it crawled off to a bush and started nibbling on some of the leaves. Roark could help but give a small smile. He'd never seen any of these pokémon before in his entire life, but some of them acted like some of the more familiar pokémon that he saw in the forests surrounding Oreburgh city.

As the sky continued to brighten, Roark saw a small herd of some small four-legged pokémon. "Deerling, deer deer" said one of them as it leapt across some stones that made a path across a slow-moving steam that separated the edge of Izzy's property from the forest. The small deer-like pokémon grazed on some of the fallen berries on the ground. One of the Deerling raised its head and looked at Roark for a moment before it decided that Roark wasn't a threat before it resumed grazing. One of the trees rustled for a moment before a flock of gray birds flew out of its branches and into the morning sky. "Pidove" they cried as the flock grew smaller and smaller in the sky. Roark sat in both silence and wonder as he saw some of the Unova pokémon wake up in White Forest. He then began thinking of the days of when he was very young and saw some wild pokémon with his father…

"_Daddy! What's that?" asked Roark as he pointed to a plump, fuzzy, brown pokémon. "That's a Bidoof," said Byron as he carried Roark on his shoulders. "Bi-doof" said the plump mouse pokémon before it scurried off into the forest. Roark looked bright-eyed at some of the pokémon that he saw in the forest before they stopped at a Mangost berry tree. Byron called out his Shieldon and then plucked a berry. He held out the berry for his Shieldon to eat, and the little shield pokémon happily ate the berry. "Shieldon!" happily said the fossil pokémon. "Daddy, can I feed Shieldon now?" asked Roark. "Of course, Roark" said Byron as he picked up Roark from his shoulders and held him out far enough so his son could pick a berry. Roark picked a plump Magnost berry, and Byron lowered his son to the ground. When his two little feet were on the ground, Roark walked up to Shieldon and held out the berry. Shieldon sniffed the berry, then softly yanked the berry out of Roark's hands and munched on the berry. The little shield pokémon then nuzzled against Roark in a sign of affection. Roark stroked Shieldon on his shield as his father smiled at what was going on._

Roark sighed. That was then, and here he is now: stuck in Unova with a broken leg, his Onix and Geodude dead, and the fossil expedition a complete disaster. He could get fired by the Pokemon League for being an irresponsible Gym Leader by allowing his Onix and Geodude to be killed, not to mention that the Oreburgh Mine would have to have a new foreman for his inept ability of keeping the excavating team safe. How was he going to handle this? He may have to resign just to avoid…

"Drillbur!" Roark was startled a little bit. He didn't notice the small pokémon standing next to him as he was lost in thought. Roark looked down at the black pokémon with purple stripes, a white face, and huge claws. It was smiling up at him, with its eyes twinkling. Within a blink on an eye, it dug a hole and disappeared. Roark looked down the hole, when he heard "Drillbur" coming from in front of him. The Gym Leader turned his head to find the little mole pokémon staring at him. It cocked its head in curiosity as it saw Roark's legs. One leg looked normal, but the other had these white bindings to it. Curiously, the pokémon tapped the leg with its long sharp claws. Roark hissed in pain as he clutched his leg. The little pokémon backed away before it dug another hole and disappeared. Roark reached his hand out, but stopped and pulled away. That little pokémon was gone, and he didn't mean to scare it. "Some trainer I am" said Roark to himself softly before he sighed. A few gray pokémon passed him as they began plucking a few berries from the trees. They plucked a few Pecha berries from the trees, but a few dropped to the ground, collecting dirt. "Minccino" they said before they ran down the trees and dusted the berries with their tails. Roark looked on with interest. He never saw a pokémon species that was picky about being clean. Something else caught his eye as the same pokémon from earlier came out from the forest with two of the most unusual berries that he'd ever seen.

"Drillbur" the pokémon said before it stopped in front of Roark and handed him a berry. After a pause of a second, Roark said "Is, is that for me?" The pokémon nodded, and then Roark took the berry. While holding on to its own berry, the little mole had its arms in the air, saying "Drillbur." Roark looked on for a few seconds, then asked "Do you want to dine with me?" as the pokémon nodded. The Gym Leader picked up the black and purple pokémon and placed it in his lap as he picked up his own berry. The berry was a light green and yellow color with large red bumps that looked like teardrops on the bottom, with a long red diamond pattern on its grooves. He never saw a berry like that before in his entire life, and he had no idea of what it tasted like. Sure, he had numerous berries in the past when he was a young kid, but he remembered eating some that made him a little sick.

"Drillbur" the pokémon said as it was munching on its berry. Roark looked from the berry to the pokémon, back to the berry again. He sighed. He didn't want to offend this little creature that wanted to be his friend, especially on how he hissed in pain earlier and frightened the little pokémon. He shrugged, then closed his eyes and bit into the berry. He chewed slowly, then swallowed. He then opened his eyes and licked his lips. That berry was unlike anything that he had before; it was both equally sweet and spicy, with a little bit of dryness in it. Roark then took a few more bites, chewed and swallowed, before he finished up the berry. He looked down at the mole pokémon and stroked his head gently, saying "Thank you for the delicious berry, little one." "Minccino" a number of voices said as Roark and the mole pokémon looked in front of them and saw a small stampede of furry, gray pokémon charging at them.

Izzy was sleeping in her bed, her long light brown hair all over her pillow as her light blue streaks flowed with her brown hair. She was dreaming of finding a shining Suicune when… "YAAAAAHH!" a voice screamed, making her jump awake. She looked around in confusion when she heard the scream again. She rushed out of her bedroom, down the hallway, down the stairs, through the kitchen, and out into the backyard to find Roark being mauled by several Minccino. As quickly as the Minccino came, they left, leaving a confused, shocked, horrified, stupefied, stunned Roark behind. As Izzy approached, she noticed a Drillbur on his lap. "Uh, Roark? What happened? Why are you up at this hour?" asked Izzy. Roark was breathing in hard as he tried to recollect what was happening when Izzy placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yah!" he exclaimed as he looked around in fright before Izzy said "Easy there! It looks as if you seen a ghost." It took Roark half a second to collect himself before he said, in a slightly shaky voice, "I…I just got attacked by those…things. They were using their tails to do…something. I don't know what were those things doing to me." "Out of curiosity, what were you doing before the Minccino did their thing with their tails?" asked Izzy in a slightly flat tone. "Well, I was eating this berry with this pokémon here," said Roark as he looked down at the pokémon in his lap "before those things attacked us." "When you ate the berry, did berry juice get all over you?" asked Izzy as Roark looked at her and said "…yes, as a matter of fact." "The Minccino weren't attacking you. Rather, they were cleaning you and Drillbur," said Izzy. "Cleaning me?" asked Roark. "Yes, cleaning you. You won't believe how much my Rampardos likes having his horns cleaned by Minccinos," said Izzy as she shook her head.

Roark was silent for a moment before the pokémon in his lap said "Drillbur." Roark looked down and then looked up back at Izzy and said "Oh, by the way, what kind of pokémon is this? I've never seen this creature before." "That? That's a Drillbur, a mole pokémon. I have them all over the yard, along with several other wild pokémon," said Izzy. "So, it's not yours?" said Roark as Izzy shook her head. He was silent for a moment before he looked down and said, "So…I could capture it if I wanted to?" "If you want. Drillbur are great at digging holes, so it'll be a good pokémon for your next fossil expedition," said Izzy. Roark smiled slightly, but was a little sad, when she said that. Of course he would love to go digging for fossils again…but he was also nervous about meeting that _monster_ again in the middle of the desert. Then again…it would be nice if had a new friend that would come back with him to the Sinnoh region, finding the fossils that he would usually find back at the Oreburgh Mine. Drillbur's eyes twinkled as he gently touched Roark's cheek. Izzy smiled at the scene in front of her, then turned around and froze. A Palpitoad was in front of her, grinning sinisterly at the three of them. "Palpitoad" it croaked before it used Water Gun to drench the three. Drillbur screamed before it jumped off Roark and dug into the earth. Roark was just shocked at what happened, then turned to Izzy to ask what was that pokémon but stopped. He saw a horrified Izzy drenched in her nightgown before she ran inside. Palpitoad croaked in a laughing manner before it hopped for the stream and swam away. Roark was just sitting in the chair for a few seconds before he grabbed his crutches. He had to get inside to dry off his cast as much as possible, change into some dry clothes, and take care of something that was happening _now._

Fifteen minutes later, Izzy was in some dry clothes and making some breakfast when Mickael came into the kitchen. "Ramp ramp dos" he said happily. "Good morning, Mickael. Sorry that I didn't make your favorite poffins this morning, but I shall have them ready soon. Could you please go upstairs and get Roark? I have breakfast ready…people breakfast. I promise to have your poffins ready in an hour, but you could eat some of your poke-chow in the meantime" said Izzy. Mickael shrugged, then headed upstairs to get Roark. As much as he liked his brand of Izzy's poke-chow, he always loved her poffins by a great deal more.

Izzy was busy finishing up with mixing the poffin-mix when she heard two loud screams when her Rampardos came running down. She turned and looked at Mickael and asked "Mickael? What happened?" He placed a claw on the table, the other on his hip, then looked down at the floor and said "Ramp rampardos ramp dos dos." "He wasn't ready yet, was he?" said Izzy as Mickael gave it some thought and moved his paw in a "so-so" manner.

Approximately two minutes later, Spectral came gliding down the stairs as she yawned, then asked Mickael what was all the commotion about. Mickael looked directly into her eye, then leaned and whispered in her "ear." She widened her eye in shock, pulled back, and Mickael nodded. Spectral shuddered a bit, then sniffed the air. Her favorite brand of poffins were baking as Izzy went on to mix Mickael's favorite poffins. He used to like any kind of poffins before Izzy started using the rare Liechi berries with a Bulk and Enigma berry thrown in the mix. He wagged his tail excitedly as he could sniff the batter. As much as the batter smelled delicious, he knew that it was better to wait for the poffin-mix to be cooked into the poffin bread.

Roark came down a few minutes later, with his crutches supporting him, as he said "Something smells good, Izzy" before he stopped when he saw Mickael. Both of them adverted their gaze as Izzy continued to mix the poffin batter. After a moment of awkward silence, Mickael left the kitchen and headed for the living room, with Spectral behind him. Without a word, Roark pulled out a chair and sat down, looking down at the table. "So Roark, Mickael said that he walked in on you getting dressed," said Izzy as she popped Mickael's poffins into the oven. Roark jerked his head up at Izzy, calmed down a bit, then said "Uh, yeah. It…was an embarrassing situation for the both of us." She then brought Roark over his waffles as she placed her plate adjacent to his. Roark ate slowly as he heard Mickael come back in the kitchen and whine a little bit. Izzy pushed herself back, got up, then went to a cabinet and brought out two containers. "Here's yours and Spectral's poke-chow. Her poffins would be ready in about an hour. Yours will take a little longer," said Izzy. Mickael nodded, then took the two containers and headed back into the living room. Inwardly, Roark sighed. He knew that Izzy would freak out if she really knew why both he and Mickael screamed in the first place.

_We manage to take a look into Darkrai's dreams here (Roark was in Darkrai's dream until they were flying on Aerodactyl. That became part of a 'dream' from Arceus.) As for your suspicions, Mickael and Spectral do share a special relationship, and yes, Roark was thinking of Izzy when Mickael walked in on him._


	3. Early Life Cycles

_I do not own Pokémon._

The day passed on, and Roark was sitting outside once again but Izzy was next to him. She was reading this book on pokémon moves and writing down a list of sorts. After a moment of silence, Roark asked what she was doing. "Oh, just making a list of what moves to teach Darkrai. He doesn't know any moves, so he's useless in battle. I was hoping to teach him a move or two so he could defend himself," said Izzy. "He doesn't know any moves? All pokémon know at least one move when they're born, so he must know something," said Roark. Izzy looked up from her book to Roark and said "I've tried all of the basic moves that a Darkrai should know, but he doesn't seem to use any of them. I'm just writing down some of the more unusual moves that I could teach him." Roark was silent when his Rampardos and Mickael came out of the forest and they stood facing each other for a moment when they began butting heads with each other. Their loud clangs between the two heads could be heard within fifty feet, and a Cranidos appeared. Mickael looked at it for a second, then began using Head Smash on Roark's Rampardos. Roark's Rampardos went down in a second, and Mickael stood triumphantly. The Cranidos looked on with interest, and Mickael began sniffing it. Cranidos pushed him off with one paw, and Mickael blushed.

Roark was silent for a moment, then said "Just what is Mickael doing to that Cranidos?" Izzy looked up, stared at the two for a moment then said, "Oh, he's just trying to impress Cranidos. He's been trying to impress her for quite a while. He happens to have a crush on her, and he hopes to be her first." Roark looked at Izzy then said with a shocked look on his face "You mean that your Cranidos is female? And that she's a…?" "Virgin? Yes. When I brought her back to life back in the Sinnoh region, the scientists told me that my Cranidos was in fact a female. He actually did a few tests on her, and the paperwork listed that Cranidos was very healthy, but also showed that she never mated before. When Mickael first saw her, he began showing off and was very protective of her. She was often very shy, and she followed Mickael around frequently. He often gave her presents such as berries, and he would often parade around proudly whenever she was nearby" said Izzy. Roark listened, and thought for a moment. He watched Cranidos actually blush, and Mickael stand proudly. Roark got an idea, then turned to Izzy and said, "Is it possibly if I record the mating rituals of a Cranidos and a Rampardos? Many of us back in Oreburgh City have revived ancient pokémon, but none of us know how ancient pokémon mated. Since you have a male Rampardos and a female Cranidos, it would help researchers understand how these pokémon reproduced." "We have to see. I need to ask Mickael for permission first before you could record the ritual itself. He takes his privacy seriously, especially if he's with a female," said Izzy. "And you know this because…?" said Roark as he raised an eyebrow. "Well, to be honest, I accidentally walked on him kissing Spectral. He saw me and snarled while Spectral looked down in shame. I told him 'Be sure to always treat her with respect' before I closed the door and let them be" said Izzy. "You saw him kissing a ghost pokémon?" said Roark horrified. "Listen Roark, Mickael really loves Spectral, but I get the impression that he wants kids. Which is why he's trying to impress Cranidos; he wants to pass on his heritage" said Izzy.

As Cranidos was walking with Mickael to the house, Izzy called them. They stopped, then approached the humans. "Roark here wants to know if he could record the two of you undergoing your mating ritual," said Izzy as Roark looked at her and blushed a deep red. Mickael just looked at her wide-eyed as she continued "He says that he needs information on how ancient pokémon mated since there are no breeding pairs back in Oreburgh City." Mickael managed to get over the shock of what he heard and though for a moment, before he said "Rampardos ramp ramp rampardos dos ramp dos pardos ramp dos ramp rampar ramp dos ramp" as he pointed to himself and Cranidos then to Izzy and Roark. "What did he say?" asked Roark as he looked to Izzy. Izzy thought for a moment before she widened her eyes and looked at Roark in a shocked impression before she said "Mickael said that if we're watching them mate, they have to watch us mate at the same time." Roark was silent for a moment as he tried to form words before he said "I, I can't do _that!_ Tell him he could forget about it!" Mickael was looking at Roark before he said "Rampardos ramp rampardo dos ramp ramp dos rampardos." Izzy then said to Roark "Mickael says if he catches you watching him mate with Cranidos, he'll break every bone in your ribcage with his pointy head. The choice is yours, Roark" as she got up and went inside. Mickael stared at Roark with a cold stare before he turned and headed into the forest. Cranidos blushed as she followed Mickael, with her head low.

Roark was alone in the yard. He thought about what Izzy said; _If I do watch Mickael, I'll be able to record how Rampardos and Cranidos mated. On the other hand, he wanted me to be naked with Izzy while they mate. If I chose to record Mickael and Cranidos on my own, he threatened to break my ribcage with his head. I can't climb with my leg broken, so I would need to hide on the ground. I'm not sure how good Mickael's night vision or sense of smell is, so I need to be careful._ He continued to think a bit more, forming a plan on how to watch Mickael and Cranidos while he stayed hidden. He didn't notice Izzy when she tapped him on his shoulder. Roark jumped a bit, but calmed down when he realized that it was Izzy. "Roark, I came out here to tell you that it's dinnertime. You looked deep in thought as if you were thinking of something important," said Izzy. "Well…" he said before Izzy cut him off "I hope that it wasn't about trying to watch Mickael and Cranidos mate. He has a remarkable sense of his surroundings, and…" before she fell silent. "And what?" asked Roark. "It's nothing…just part of a long story" said Izzy sadly as she went into the house. Roark couldn't help but wonder a few things on what made Izzy sad, but then thought _Must have had a bad experience like I had_ as he rubbed his broken leg.

"I can't believe that I agreed to this," said Roark as he followed Izzy into the forest at 2 A.M. in the morning. "You wanted to watch a Rampardos and Cranidos mate, and this is the only way to watch them. I doubt that anyone will have an experience like this," said Izzy. Roark had a sweat drop form on his head as he thought _You could say that again. I doubt that anyone will watch two prehistoric pokemon mate while they're having sex at the same time._ Roark continued to follow Izzy into the forest until the reached Mickael and Cranidos. Mickael had his arms folded as he stared at the two humans before Izzy nodded, then turned to Roark and said "He wants us to strip." Another sweat drop formed on Roark's head as he thought _This is so fucking stupid!_ Mickael watched the two humans strip, but stared at a certain flap of skin on Roark and thought _That is what makes humans so proud? Now I understand why humans wear clothes._ Within a few minutes, Roark and Izzy were naked in front of the pokemon as Roark blushed a very deep red. He kept on adverting his gaze at Izzy before she tapped him on the shoulder and he looked at her face (he was trying to avoid looking lower.) "If you want to record Mickael and Cranidos to mate, I recommend that we start now" she said. Roark sighed, then followed Izzy as they got into a mating position. She was bending slightly as she had her hands on her legs as she spread them apart (but not too much.) Roark placed his notebook on Izzy's back as he clicked his pen and began observing what Mickael and Cranidos were doing.

Mickael was satisfied that the humans agreed to his demands if they were going to watch the mating ritual of the Rampardos/Cranidos species, so he turned his attention to Cranidos and got ready. A certain appendage made its appearance, and he tilted his head and saw the male human's expression. Mickael smirked, then lowered his head and began nuzzling Cranidos' neck with his snout. She moaned a little bit before he slowly stuck in his phallus inside her. She screamed _"Too big! Too big!_" as she began crying. He stopped and remained patient as she adjusted to his phallus. Afterwards, he looked at the humans and cleared his throat. Izzy looked at Roark and said, "He knows that we're not having 'exact' sex. You have to move." "Move? …oh" said Roark as he began moving his hips. Mickael smiled, then he began moving himself as he nuzzled Cranidos with his snout while growling deeply. He kicked the earth with his right leg as if he was getting ready to charge, then let out a loud roar before he calmed down. This action repeated every five minutes for the next hour until…

"Cranidos" screamed Cranidos before she relaxed. Mickael gently withdrew from Cranidos and gently placed her on the ground. His own phallus retreated back inside him before he lay down next to Cranidos and placed his head on the ground as his tail curled around her and the tip touched his snout. Roark continued to write for a few more seconds before he said "Done" in a quiet voice. Izzy stretched herself after Roark pulled out and the two started getting dressed. As the two walked back to the house, Izzy couldn't help but think. Sure Roark was cute (very sexy guy cute), but he was also…well…boring. _Roark definitely was more interested on what Mickael and Cranidos were doing that what we were doing_ thought Izzy.

It wasn't until that he was in bed that the realization finally hit Roark: he actually had sex with Izzy. He tried to remember what that was like, but mostly, he could only remember Mickael and Cranidos' mating ritual plus some faint feelings of…what was it? Pleasure? He wasn't sure, but he felt that he could have done _that_ better. He turned on his side, and thought before he went to sleep _I need to see if there's anything more to Rampardos' and Cranidos' behaviors in nesting._

The next day, Roark woke up a little bit later than usual and yawned. He stretched, then reached out for his glasses. He wanted to see how Cranidos and Rampardos build nests, but he also wanted to talk to Izzy.

"Morning Izzy" said Roark as he came down the stairs. "Good morning Roark" she said as she began mixing Mickael's favorite poffin-mix. As soon as she finished mixing Mickael's poffins, she began molding them into poffins and placed them into the oven. She then took an Enigma berry and mixed it with several Bulk berries in the batter. Roark looked on, then asked "Um, who are those poffins for?" "These? These are for Cranidos. She loves spicy poffins with a little sweetness in it" said Izzy. Roark couldn't help but notice that she seemed a little of…what was it? Sadness? Disappointment? "Izzy, are you ok?" asked Roark. "Hmm? No, I'm fine, I'm fine" she said a little sadly. "Izzy, I know that something's wrong. What is it?" "Trust me Roark, it's nothing" she said. Roark knew that something was wrong, but he decided not to pursue it. Deep down, it still bothered him.

Thirty minutes later, Roark was in the forest looking for Mickael and Cranidos. After much searching, he found them sniffing around the place. He stayed hidden and watched carefully. Cranidos kept on feeling the ground, as if searching for something. Mickael kept on sniffing the air, but stopped and noticed Roark. He kept an eye on him, but kept on sniffing the air. Cranidos walked deeper into the forest, followed closely by Mickael. Keeping his distance, Roark followed.

Cranidos kept on feeling the ground wherever she kept on walking until she came to a clearing that had both plenty of sunshine and shade. Cranidos kept on sniffing the ground and feeling it with her feet until she found a particular shady spot that had some sunshine. She then began digging a little with her feet, then Mickael came over to help with the digging. Roark wrote down of Cranidos' search to find the perfect nesting spot and how Mickael retained constant surveillance of his surroundings for Cranidos' safety.

It took him a few minutes to finish writing what he had, but once he finished, he looked up. He saw that Mickael and Cranidos were still digging, but they were making the nest wider. It took them a while for the two dinosaurs to finish digging their nest, but once they were done, Cranidos and Mickael began collecting foliage. Cranidos collected a few branches with leaves and lined the outer rim of the nest with it. Mickael gathered foliage from higher up in the trees, and lined the center of the nest with it. The foliage collecting went on for over an hour, but they managed to make their nest very soft. Cranidos tested the nest with her feet, then left and gathered a few more leaves. She kept on testing the floor until she felt satisfied and sat down. Roark wrote on how the female (Cranidos in this case) would test out the softness of the nest until she felt satisfied to lay her egg within it. When he looked up, he found Mickael staring directly at him, snorting the whole time. Roark couldn't help but feel nervous as his face was less than five inches from Mickael's face. Mickael growled as he glared at Roark.

Suddenly, Cranidos gave a loud cry. Mickael raised his head, and saw a Simsear. Mickael growled menacingly as he approached the fire monkey. Simsear beat his chest before the two charged at each other. Mickael charged with Zen Headbutt, but Simsear used Fire Punch. Mickael roared, then used Crunch on Simsear. Simsear screamed, but he used Iron Tail. As the two fought, Roark observed them, then started writing down notes. _A Rampardos will defend his mate and his nest at all costs when an enemy enters Rampardos' territory. The male Rampardos keeps on high alert at all times when the female is close to laying her egg._ A loud roar caught Roark's attention and he saw Mickael use Surf on Simsear. Simsear let out a loud scream before he ran away, and Mickael stood in triumph. Mickael then turned around and went back to snorting at Roark and staring at him. Mickael growled menacingly before Roark decided to get up and leave. He'll check back later to see if Cranidos had laid her egg.

Roark managed to get back to the house in time for lunch. "You've been gone for a long time, Roark. Did Cranidos manage to lay her egg?" asked Izzy. "No, but I did see how Cranidos and Rampardos search for a nesting area, plus how they build nests" said Roark. "So, how's your leg? Is it doing better?" asked Izzy. "It's still sore," said Roark as he sat down "But, it's getting better." "That's good to hear," said Izzy. While the two were having lunch, Spectral was feeding Night Shadow his special formula. His "milk" was a dusty gray in color that was emitting a light-blue glow. Spectral was on her bed relaxing as Night Shadow suckled at the bottle as she thought. She loved Mickael a lot, but he really wanted offspring of his own, which was why he was with Cranidos now. Cranidos was very innocent and she doesn't even have the slightest idea of what happened to Spectral that night several years ago. Night Shadow soon finished his meal, then looked up at his mother and said "Darkrai." Spectral held her son close as she stroked him gently on his head. She loved her son greatly.

Once lunch was finished, Roark headed out to the forest again to see if Cranidos had laid her egg. At the clearing, he still saw Cranidos still sitting in her nest, sleeping this time. Mickael was still on high alert, and snorted when he saw Roark. A roar caught his attention, and Roark's Rampardos appeared. _"Hello little brother"_ said Rampardos. _"Hello, brother. What brings you here?"_ said Mickael. _"Can't a Rampardos visit his little brother and see how his family is coming? I just wanted to ask you out to lunch. I found some delicious berry trees on the other side of the river that we can eat"_ said Rampardos. _"I would love to, but I can't. I'm watching over my mate to make sure that she's safe. A Simsear came by earlier, but I chased him off. I'm worried if other predators would come by and hurt Cranidos. I wouldn't want that to happen,"_ said Mickael. _"I could ask Roark to watch over Cranidos. He's very responsible_," said Rampardos. Mickael sighed. He would love to go, but he wasn't sure if Roark could defend his nest and mate like he could, and besides, he was injured. Rampardos saw that his brother was having some conflict, then said, _"I promise that Roark will take very good care of Cranidos and your nest. I trust him with my life." "If you say so,"_ said Mickael. Rampardos nodded, then walked over to his trainer and asked him if he could watch over Cranidos. "You want me to watch over Cranidos, and it's ok with Mickael?" asked Roark as Rampardos nodded. "Ok, I will. I promise that I will retain a constant watch over her" said Roark as Rampardos nodded, then headed into the forest with Mickael behind him.

Roark approached Cranidos and sat down next to her. She was still sleeping, so she didn't notice him. Roark reclined and breathed in the air. The air was surprisingly clean in White Forest, unlike Oreburgh City. There was always some dust from the mine polluting the air on windy days, and forget about the mine itself. The air was very hard to breathe in on some days and it was sometimes hard to see in some areas. Roark frowned as he thought about the guy that he left in charge. He would always argue with Roark on where to mine, and he would always remind the guy why they shouldn't mine in a few areas. _"How many times do I have to get it through your thick skull? There's a dangerous amount of methane in those areas, and on top of that, that area is the support area of Oreburgh City! My father knew that, and his father before him knew that. That area has been so overmined in the last few decades that the floor has been creeping at an accelerated pace. That area of the mine is permanently closed off. Got it?" said Roark. "But boss, that area has the highest amount of coal! Oreburgh City gets its main supply from that area of the mine! If that area is closed off, we'll have to find a new section, and none of the new tunnels have even that much coal. It could be years before we could locate a section underground that can store that much coal" replied the other guy. Roark looked directly in his eyes and said, "If I ever catch you mining within that section of the tunnels without my approval, you're fired. Got it?"_

Roark sighed. He hoped that the person that he left in charge hadn't gone against his orders. He knew as well as the person that he left in charge that the closed off section of the mine did contain both a lot of coal and fossils, but he couldn't risk anyone going down there alone, much less have the mine collapse or ignite the gas. He looked over at Cranidos. She was sleeping peacefully as if she didn't have a care within the world. He smirked; _She would have made a great mate for my Rampardos_ thought Roark. He sat there in silence for a while when he heard "Drillbur" coming from his right side. He turned his head and saw the same Drillbur that gave him the berry the other day. "Hello, Drillbur. Did you come here to see me?" asked Roark. "Drillbur" said Drillbur as he nodded his head. Drillbur sat next to Roark as he looked over at Cranidos. "Drillbur?" asked Drillbur as he pointed to Cranidos. "Why I'm here? I'm taking over for her mate until he gets back. He's off with my Rampardos," said Roark as Drillbur nodded. Drillbur rested his head on Roark's lap, yawned, and then dozed off. Roark was a little surprised, but then gently stroked Drillbur's back. Life certainly was relaxing in White Forest.

Further away, Mickael and Rampardos were munching on several large Pecha berries. Lots of wild pokemon were also munching on the berry trees within the area, but they all knew Mickael. Since Rampardos was also there, they were unsure about him, but if Mickael trusted him, then he was also safe to be around. Lilipup were munching on berries, as well as Purrloins, Sewaddles, Minccinos, and Patrats. Rampardos looked at some of the pokemon as he munched on his berries and wondered a few things. He finally looked at his brother and asked _"Brother, just why do these pokemon seem unafraid of you? I saw you with your mate, and you were really aggressive when it came to other pokemon. Just, why the personality change?" "Back there, I was just cautious of my mate. I don't let any outsiders get too close to her, but out here, I'm a very friendly pokemon. Night Shadow loves to play with all the wild pokemon, and I love playing with them too. I'm always amazed on how the pokemon are so different from the ones in the Sinnoh region in so many ways. My trainer even learned of pokemon moves that aren't known in the Sinnoh region, and she managed to teach them to us. It took us all a long time for us to learn these new moves, but we managed to master them. She's always looking for new moves to teach us,"_ said Mickael. Rampardos was silent for a little while as he munched on his berry. He then looked up at his brother and asked, _"Just what kind of moves has she taught you? I only know of a few moves that I learned on my own. Roark is usually too busy working in the mine or finding fossils to train us—er, me, to learn new moves." "Well, I learned quite a few moves that surprised even me. I learned Surf, Dragon Pulse, Iron Tail, Iron Head, Rock Climb, and Skull Bash. I'm still trying to learn Avalanche, but so far, I haven't had much luck. She thinks that I may need to learn Blizzard first, but she's not sure. I did learn Ice Beam, but it took a very long time"_ said Mickael. Rampardos stared at Mickael, then said, _"You learned what? I thought that Skull Bash couldn't be learned by our kind." "Have you even seen another pokemon use Skull Bash?"_ asked Mickael. _"I have, but I'm not sure on how different it is from my normal Headbutts"_ said Rampardos.

Mickael shook his head, then said, _"Surprisingly, Skull Bash is really easy. Here, I'll teach you how"_ as he lowered his body. _"First, you need to lower your head and you bulk up your muscles"_ he said. Rampardos did the same, and then Mickael continued _"Next, you charge with your head low while running really fast."_ Mickael charged into a tree, smashing it into splinters. Rampardos tried the same, but his feet kept on leaving the ground as he charged. Mickael shook his head, then said _"I told you; you have to charge with your feet on the ground. Try it again."_ Rampardos kept on trying, but he kept on using Head Smash each time. Mickael shook his head, thought for a moment, then said _"Ok, we'll try this scenario: pretend that there's this hot female Rampardos that you're madly in love with, but there is this really strong male Rampardos who happens to be a jerk that is competing for her attention. When using Skull Bash, you have to charge the same way when charging at this male Rampardos. Try it again."_ Rampardos lowered his head, closed his eyes, and visualized what Mickael told him. He bulked up his muscles in agitation, then began charging. He began running faster and faster, until he ran right into the tree. The tree was reduced to splinters. _"Congratulations brother! You learned Skull Bash!"_ exclaimed Mickael. _"I did? I did it! I did it!_" exclaimed Rampardos as he jumped up and down happily. _"Now, we just need to rehearse it a few times to make sure that you actually learned it, and that it's not just a one-time thing"_ said Mickael.

The two Rampardos kept on rehearsing Skull Bash within the forest over the next hour. Exhausted, Rampardos sat down as he tried to catch his breath. _"I'm very proud of you that you learned Skull Bash,"_ said Mickael. _"Thanks, brother"_ panted Rampardos. Just then, his stomach growled, and Rampardos placed his claws over his stomach as he blushed. _"Looks like I'm hungry after all that Skull Bash-ing." "Yeah, learning a new move can work up an appetite. I saw a few Mangost berry trees back there. We can eat a few of those,"_ said Mickael as he headed for one of the Mangost berry trees. Rampardos got on his two feet and followed Mickael.

While Mickael was teaching Rampardos Skull Bash, Roark had an adventure of his own. He was stroking Drillbur when a most unusual pokemon appeared. Roark saw a bizarre furry pokemon crawl out of the forest. _That has to be the ugliest Wurmple that I've ever seen_ thought Roark as he stared at the bug pokemon. "Larvesta" it said as it stared at Roark. Larvesta started crawling towards Roark when Drillbur woke up. He spotted Larvesta crawling then closed his eyes before he opened them wide in horror. "Drillbur!" he exclaimed before he started digging. "Drillbur, wait!" called Roark, but Drillbur was gone in a second. Cranidos slowly opened her eyes, blinked, then said "Cranidos?" She widened her eyes in shock as she saw Larvesta and cried "Cranidos!" _Why is everyone afraid of this pokemon?_ wondered Roark, but his question was soon answered. "Lilipup" barked a small dog pokemon as it charged at Larvesta, but Larvesta used Flamethrower on Lilipup, sending the small puppy pokemon yelping away. Roark realized that this was no Wurmple, but rather a very dangerous fire pokemon. _Fuck!_ Roark thought _I don't have any pokemon to defend myself. How am I supposed to protect Cranidos?_ Without warning, Larvesta was suddenly shot into the air by none other than… "Drillbur!" called out Roark as he saw the little mole pokemon. "Drillbur" said Drillbur as it saluted Roark with a claw. "Larvesta!" said an angry Larvesta as it crashed into the ground and pushed itself up. It was staring at Drillbur before it launched Ember. Roark paused for a second, then called out "Drillbur! Dig!" "Drill," said Drillbur as it dug beneath the surface before the fire attack hit. Larvesta looked around, but got hit as Drillbur hit it. "Lar-Vesta!" it screamed as it used Incinerate on the little mole. "Drillbur!" called out Drillbur as it got hit. "Drillbur!" called out Roark. He was worried about his little friend, but worry got pushed into full fear as Larvesta approached Drillbur. "Drillbur, use Mud-Slap!" called out Roark. Drillbur got up then started sending mud at Larvesta. Larvesta called out in shock then used String Shot in all directions. The String Shot trapped Drillbur, but he wasn't the only one. The String Shot also trapped Roark to the ground and Cranidos to her nest.

Roark became really worried as he thought _Fuck! Now Mickael is really going to notice this! What am I going to do?_ Panic flooded through his systems as Larvesta crawled closer and closer. Flames were seen shooting from its horns as it approached both Cranidos and Roark. Drillbur saw his human in trouble, then narrowed his eyes in anger as it said "Drillbur!" He began spinning around as fast as he could to free himself from the String Shot. The second that he freed himself, he charged at Larvesta with his Slash attack. Larvesta was hit immediately, but glared at the mole as he started using Flamethrower. Drillbur ran as fast as he could to outrun the flames, but all of the webbing caught fire from the Flamethrower attack. "Drillbur, use Sandstorm" commanded Roark. "Drillbur" it said as it saluted Roark with a claw before sand started kicking up. Larvesta was getting pounded by the Sandstorm, then tried to find Drillbur, but he couldn't find him. "Drillbur, Mud-Slap" called out Roark. A powerful Mud-Slap hit Larvesta, blinding the worm. "Larvest-ta!" called out the worm. "Dig" commanded Roark. Larvesta panicked as it tried to find the mole pokemon, but to no avail. "Drill-bur!" called out Drillbur as it hit Larvesta with a well-aimed attack, sending him flying into a tree. "Lar-ves-taaa" said Larvesta as it fainted. Drillbur stood in triumph over his win, then looked over to Roark. Roark was still stuck to the ground, so Drillbur ran over and used his Slash attack to free Roark. "Thanks, Drillbur" said Roark as he petted the pokemon over the head "but, what are we going to do now? Mickael is going to notice the change over this clearing after that battle." "Cranidos?" said Cranidos as she was still stuck to her nest. "Oh, Drillbur, use Slash to free Cranidos" said Roark. Drillbur obeyed, then cut the webbing from the female dinosaur.

Cranidos looked around her nest in disappointment. Her nest needed new foliage since String Shot ruined it. Roark noticed that as well, then said "Um, Cranidos? We could help rebuild the nest if you want us to." "Cranidos" she said happily as she began removing the old nesting material. Drillbur and Roark helped remove the old nesting material, and then once the nest was cleared, they all began gathering new foliage for the nest. Roark and Drillbur had to help get branches and leaves from higher up, while Cranidos collected leaves and grasses on the ground. It took them a good half-hour for the nest to be rebuilt, but they managed to make it soft to Cranidos' liking. Roark resumed his position besides Cranidos, and began writing about the battle and Cranidos' need to recollect new nesting material. He managed to write down the last sentence when Mickael and Rampardos returned from their lunch.

Mickael stopped, then began sniffing the surroundings. He smelled freshly scattered sand and some smoke, then stared at Roark and snarled. He approached Roark and growled at him while staring at him. Roark felt nervous as those angry red eyes stared at him before Mickael charged at Roark and grabbed him by the neck. Roark felt his windpipe constrict under Mickael's strong grip as the pokemon snarled at him and roared _"I know that something happened here! That nesting material is fresher than what was there before I left, and I smelt signs of a battle that happened here while I was gone!"_ Rampardos roared at Mickael _"What are you doing to my trainer?" "He broke the rules about keeping Cranidos safe! He is not allowed to watch over Cranidos again!"_ roared back Mickael before he flung Roark into a tree. Roark hissed in pain as the tree hit his back. He opened his eyes up in agony, but saw that Mickael began stomping the ground. Without thinking twice, Roark scampered out of the clearing and into the forest on all fours.

Roark crawled for a distance, then leaned back against a tree, but hissed in pain as his back flared up. _He got me good_ thought Roark. He suddenly remembered that he forgot his crutches, but he heard something crash though the treetops and land a little bit ahead of him. Roark turned his head, and saw that his crutches were bent into a metal pretzel. He sighed; _He's clearly mad at me_ thought Roark. Roark got to his feet and began walking on his legs, but slowly. He winced in pain with every step that he took with his left foot, but he was able to walk on his own without the crutches. Roark managed to walk twenty feet when he heard "Drillbur" coming from behind him. He turned his head and saw Drillbur running towards him with his notebook and his pen. "Thanks Drillbur" said Roark as he placed his notebook and pen within his jacket. "Drillbur" said Drillbur as it smiled at him, eyes twinkling. He thought for a moment, then said, "So Drillbur, do you want to be my pokémon?" "Drillbur" said Drillbur excitedly. Roark took a pokéball then threw it at Drillbur. "Drillbur!" it said as the laser system activated and zapped Drillbur within the pokéball. The button glowed for a moment on the pokéball before it stopped glowing. Roark picked up the pokéball and couldn't help but smile. He managed to get a new friend.

_I wanted to give Roark a Drillbur because he is a miner (I saw clips from the episode where Ash challenges Clay, and he uses Excadrill for mining and battling.)_


	4. It's a Cruel World

_In this chapter, we will be seeing a new major pokémon character enter the story. She will play a huge role in later stories. I do not own pokémon._

Roark managed to get back to the house, and limped into the kitchen. His leg was starting to hurt badly now. Izzy was preparing dinner when she noticed Roark; "Roark, what happened? Where are your crutches?" "Long story short, Mickael threw me into a tree and twisted my crutches" said Roark as he wheezed in pain. Izzy helped Roark into the living room and placed him facedown on his stomach on the couch. "Tell me when it hurts," said Izzy as she began feeling Roark's back. He hissed in pain when she touched a sore part of his back. She then left the living room and headed for the kitchen. Roark was silent as he waited for Izzy, but she came back with an ice pack and a few lotions. "Roark, I'm going to put some lotions on your back, but I need you to remove your shirt" said Izzy. Roark looked at her with one eye, blushed a bit, then pushed himself up, but Izzy helped him into a sitting position. Roark coughed a bit, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Um, do you suppose that you could…?" "Shy, aren't you?" said Izzy as Roark nodded. "Ok" she said as she turned her head. Once her head was turned, Roark unbutton and removed his shirt. He then tried leaning down, but had a little difficulty due to the sore muscles in his back. He felt some hands on his ribs as Izzy said, "You could have told me that you wanted to lie down. Your back is sore, and you've got a pretty nasty bruise." Roark was silent as Izzy placed some lotions on his back, but winced a little bit in pain. He felt relief when the ice pack was placed on his back. "I'll be in the kitchen making dinner. Call me if you need anything" she said before she left.

Roark dozed off on the couch for a few minutes when Izzy tapped him on the shoulder. "Hmm?" said Roark sleepily. "Roark, it is dinnertime. Do you want to eat?" asked Izzy. "Not at the moment, I'm still tired," said Roark. "Ok. If you get hungry, dinner will be waiting for you in the refrigerator" said Izzy as she went back into the kitchen. Roark woke up roughly three hours later, and he felt hungry. He limped into the kitchen and began looking for something to eat. He heated up something in the microwave and began eating. Izzy made mashed potatoes with meatloaf and sting beans, which wasn't half bad. While he was eating, Izzy came downstairs to get a drink of water. "Roark? You still down here?" said Izzy in a slightly surprised manner. "Huh? Yeah, I just woke up a few minutes ago," said Roark. Izzy noticed that his shirt was off, and his bruise still looked nasty, but it could have been healing. She grabbed a chair and sat down next to him. Izzy was still in her teal nightgown and she looked…pretty. Roark blushed when he looked at her, and blushed a deeper red when he realized that he wasn't wearing his shirt. "You're blushing," said Izzy as Roark blushed a deeper color "Do you happen to like me?" Roark was silent for a moment and Izzy said, "I'm sorry that I said that. It was a stupid question" when Roark said, "No, it wasn't." "It wasn't?" asked Izzy with a surprised look on her face. "I've been thinking about what happened the other night and…well…what happened when that weird Politoad squirted us with his water gun" said Roark "I think that…well, I don't know how to put this, but I think that I like you like you." "You like me like me?" said Izzy as she began blushing. "Yeah. I do. I couldn't get you out of my mind at times" said Roark.

Izzy and Roark stared at each other for a few minutes before she said "Well, I don't know how to handle this, but…well, the last time that I fell in love with someone, my heart got broken." Roark frowned, then said, "Your heart got broken? By who?" Izzy sighed, then said, "It was back in the Sinnoh region. I fell in love with someone, but he was just using me, and he broke up with me. That bastard took my virginity…I was afraid about falling in love again for a long time afterwards. I did see him enter the Sinnoh Championship several years ago, but he lost within the first round." Roark remained silent then said, "I'm very sorry for your loss, Izzy. If I ever saw him, I would punch him in the face for you." Izzy looked at Roark and smiled. He certainly was a very sweet person that Roark.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Roark spoke up and said "Just how long ago did you see that person enter the Championships? I might have met him at one point." "I doubt that you challenged him, Roark. I know that Byron was still the leader of Oreburgh City when I left, and it's most likely that he was still the leader when that bastard got his badge. I was only in Unova for a few months when I saw the Championships on TV. I wish that I could have been there, but I dropped out," said Izzy. Roark looked at her and said, "You dropped out? But why? You were unable to win a badge?" "No, it's not that. I already had seven badges when…" said Izzy before she fell silent before she resumed "…everything went to hell. Something happened that made me question my trainer abilities seriously, and I decided to give up trying to become a Pokemon Master. On top of that, I found out that my mother died, so I had to go back to my hometown and look after the place my mother left me. Soon after, Team Galactic struck and stole a number of pokemon from where I got my starter. My pokemon were among the missing. Dusknoir, Rampardos, Mothim, Vespiquen, Infernape, and Torterra were the only pokemon that I had left. Just when I thought that it couldn't get any worse, Team Galactic tested out this new weapon and destroyed my entire hometown. But that wasn't the reason why I left Sinnoh in the first place. It was all because of Darkrai that made me doubt my trainer abilities and I left Sinnoh because of what he did."

Roark was silent for a moment before he said, "You never told me what happened with Darkrai. I know that your Dusknoir gave birth to your Darkrai, but you never told me how she got pregnant in the first place. Just what happened with Darkrai? The only trainer that I know of that has a Darkrai besides you was Tobias." Izzy shook her head, then said, "I know for a fact that Tobias' Darkrai wasn't the one that he caught. I know where and how he got Darkrai." "Were you there when he caught Darkrai?" asked Roark. Izzy shook her head, then looked at Roark and said, "Tobias' Darkrai wasn't originally his Darkrai. That Darkrai is Night Shadow's father, and I was the one that traded him Darkrai." Roark looked shocked then said, "I think that I didn't hear you correctly, but I thought that I heard that you traded him Darkrai." "I did say that. You didn't mishear me," said Izzy. Roark was stunned, shocked, in disbelief, and amazed beyond reason when he heard that for the second time. "But, how…how did you drop out of the Sinnoh region when you caught Darkrai? Tobias won the Sinnoh Region Championships because of Darkrai! Why did you leave Sinnoh, much less trade to Tobias, when you had Darkrai on your team?" exclaimed Roark in shock. "It's all part of a very long, very sad story. Much too long for tonight" said Izzy as she got up and headed upstairs. Roark sat in shock and surprise as all of what Izzy told him sank in. Why did she leave Sinnoh when she caught Darkrai? What made her want to trade Darkrai to Tobias? All these questions and more spun in Roark's head as he thought. He knew that he had to ask Izzy.

Izzy was staring up at the ceiling when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in" she said as Roark entered. She pushed herself up as Roark limped over to the bed and sat down. After he took in a few deep breaths, he said "I just wanted to talk to you about a few things. First, what happened in Sinnoh with Darkrai?" "I told you Roark, the story is far to long for tonight," said Izzy "I'll tell you tomorrow if you wish. What was the other thing that you wanted to ask me?" Roark blushed a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck as he said "Well, the other thing that I wanted ask you is…well, I couldn't stop thinking of you after…well, what we had to agree to Mickael so I could record his mating habits. A few things were circling my mind, mainly the part that I realized that I had sex with you." "I don't see on how that was such a big deal. I'm sure that a man in your position had time for plenty of girls before," said Izzy before Roark turned his head away in both embarrassment and disappointment. Izzy gasped, then said, "You mean…that night…was…?" "My first time? Yeah, it was. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to…well, do it again. Not the part with us in the woods, just that part with…well, when we were…you know, doing it," said Roark as he blushed nervously.

Roark was nervous; what if she didn't want to do it again? Or worse, what if she just laughed at him? He didn't know what to do, but he felt Izzy getting up from the bed. Roark felt his heart skip a beat and sink. _What was I thinking when I said that? She doesn't want to do it with me. I was a fool to even come in here to ask about us having sex_ thought Roark when he heard the door close. He looked up and saw Izzy coming towards him and sat down next to him. She looked directly into his eyes and said "I didn't want Mickael or any of the other pokemon to come in here while we're together." She placed her hand on the back of his neck as she brought him in closer. She kissed Roark as he remained stunned and shocked for a second, but then embraced her and began kissing back. Their tongues explored each other's mouths, as the kiss grew deeper and deeper.

Later that night, Mickael came upstairs to check on Spectral and Night Shadow. He knew that Spectral would sometimes cry at night and wake up Night Shadow by accident, causing Night Shadow to cry all night. He was usually the one who was able to calm down the two by giving Spectral a shoulder to cry on, and giving Night Shadow a Pignite-back ride. He stopped outside of Izzy's door when he heard the sounds. He leaned his head a little bit closer to the door, and he heard the voices a little bit more clearly. "Ooooh, Roark. You're so…ah!" "Mmmm, Izzy." Mickael could also hear more moans and some slurping sounds, plus something that sounded like a Yamask moaning or a Growlithe barking. He did hear "Ow! My leg!" "Sorry Roark. Here, let me be on top." "Ok, just be a bit…Ow! My back!" "Sorry about that Roark. Here, let me put a pillow right here. Does that feel better?" "Yeah, but could we be a bit more careful about some of the rougher stuff? I don't think that my leg or back could handle it." Mickael couldn't make out the next few sounds clearly, but it sort of sounded like a Scyther using Cut on some gigantic trees with Raikou howling.

After hearing a few more weird sounds, Mickael decided to turn around and leave. What was going on in there was definitely more horrifying than the time Izzy walked in on him with Spectral. He really wished that he knew how to lock doors when Izzy saw him on top of Spectral like that.

Mickael was sitting on the couch, thinking, when Spectral came down. _"Is something wrong, Mickael? I felt your presence down here"_ said Spectral. _"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking about a few things, mainly with that Roark person and Izzy. Earlier this evening, I went upstairs to check on you, but I then heard Izzy with Roark. Her door was closed, but I could tell what they were doing"_ said Mickael as Spectral sat down next to him. _"What was it that they were doing?"_ asked Spectral. Mickael looked a her and said _"Well, it's obvious that they're asleep now since you couldn't feel while they were…well, what I heard. Izzy was mating with Roark. It's obvious that she likes him a lot. I've never heard her so happy, especially when she was with that jerk several years ago. I could tell that jerk actually abused her, but Roark…I know that he's treating her with respect. I don't happen to like him since I gave him the responsibility of protecting Cranidos, and he failed at it. I could smell that an enemy was there, but Roark was hoping to cover up what happened there so I wouldn't notice, but I could smell what happened. He let a Larvesta crawl too close to Cranidos, and he managed to chase it away, but I could tell that he did a horrible job at it. But since Izzy happens to like him, I don't know what to do. I don't want to make her sad, but I don't like the guy. Then again, I haven't seen her this happy ever since we left Sinnoh. I just don't know what to do."_

Spectral was silent as she took all of this in, then looked at Mickael and said, _"Just how did Roark fail you? I want to know the exact way on how he failed you." "Well, I know that a Larvesta was near the nest earlier today, but it smelled as if a Drillbur fought Larvesta to protect Cranidos, and I suspect Roark as well. New nesting foliage was within the nest, and freshly scattered dirt was all over the place. He wanted to fix up the place so I wouldn't notice. I also found the old foliage within the nest behind a few bushes"_ said Mickael. _"Have you even considered the fact that he could have never met a Larvesta until today? For all of the pokemon that live here, we only became aware of their existence only after we moved to Unova. He could have mistaken Larvesta for a Caterpie or a Wurmple until it got too close"_ said Spectral. Mickael looked at Spectral for a moment, thought a bit, then said, _"You know, I've never considered that possibility."_ Mickael then leaned over to Spectral and kissed her, saying _"I could always rely on you to help solve my problems. Thanks, Spectral."_ _"No problem, Mickael"_ she said as she kissed him back. They kissed each other deeply for the next twenty minutes.

Roark woke up the next day with his arms around Izzy. He gently kissed her on her forehead, causing her to wake up. "Good morning, Izzy. How did you sleep?" "Fine, Roark. I slept fine," she said. They smiled at each other for a moment before the two of them got up and dressed. What one thing they weren't expecting was a surprise from Mickael.

Roark was in the kitchen, reading the newspaper on what was going on in Unova when Mickael entered the kitchen. Roark tensed up when he saw Mickael approach him, but what he did next surprised him. Mickael handed him back his crutches, and started saying something. He couldn't understand what Mickael was saying, but Izzy understood. She looked at Roark and said, "Mickael was saying on how he reacted yesterday. He didn't know that you never saw a Larvesta before, and he fixed your crutches as a way of saying that he's sorry. He even said that you're allowed to come closer to the nest if you want." Roark looked at Izzy, stunned by what she said, then he replied "He actually said that he's sorry? I don't know if I could forgive him as of yet because my back still is in a lot of pain." Mickael then said "Rampardos, ramp dos rampardos." Izzy nodded, then looked at Roark and said, "Mickael also said that he understands. He's still sorry for what he's done." Roark nodded, then looked at Rampardos and said "Listen, I know that you're sorry for what you've done, but you really injured me the other day. It's going to be a while before my back feels better. It still hurts like hell. I'm not sure if I could forgive you." Mickael nodded, then left the kitchen. He knew that Roark was right; he did hurt that trainer really badly.

A few days passed, and Izzy approached Roark. He was outside; watching Cranidos in her nest while Mickael patrolled around her. She gently tapped his shoulder, startling Roark slightly. He turned his head to face her and Izzy said, "We have to go to the hospital. They called me up, and they say that you're ready for a metal brace on your leg now. You don't need your crutches any longer." Roark was a little bit stunned, then said "So, I'll be able to walk without the crutches?" as Izzy nodded. He smiled for a moment, then frowned and said "I have the suspicion that Cranidos will be laying her egg soon, and I'm afraid that I might miss the event when she does. But, the hospital isn't far from here, right?" "Actually, the closest hospital is in Black City," said Izzy. "Black City is the closest place with a hospital?" said Roark in shock. "I'm afraid that it is. White Forest is too small to have its own hospital, so we'll have to use Torterra to help get you to Black City" said Izzy. Roark sighed; he knew that he was going to miss Cranidos lay her egg.

One hour later, Roark was relaxing on Torterra as he walked next to Izzy as they walked to Black City. The walk took almost all day, but they managed to get to Black City before sundown. Izzy called out Serperior to help bring Roark down from Torterra, before calling the two pokémon back. "The hospital is only about three miles from here," said Izzy as she led Roark within the city. Since Roark lived within Oreburgh City, and he usually visited his father in Canalave City, he usually wasn't too surprised with cities, but Black City was a different story. He was still amazed by how dark the city was, and how all the buildings were lit up by neon lights. He even saw a few pokemon battles going on with pokemon that he'd never seen before happening within the city. _I've got to come down here with Rampardos after my leg's healed_ thought Roark.

The hospital visit took longer than expected, with the removing of Roark's cast and placing on the metal brace for his leg. By the time that they got out of the hospital, it was already nightfall. "Looks as if we may have to spend the night in the Pokemon Center" said Roark as they left the hospital. "I suppose, but then again, this is the summer, so the Pokemon Center is usually booked during this time of the year. We'll be lucky if they have a leftover room," said Izzy as they headed towards the Pokémon Center.

When they got there, they saw that another trainer was trying to get a room. "Excuse us, but we'd like a room" said Izzy. "One moment please…hmm, it seems as if there's only one room left," said Nurse Joy. "What! Only one room left!" shouted the trainer next to Izzy. Roark looked at Izzy and asked, "So…if we headed out now, just how long will it take to get to your house?" "This time at night? We'd get there by six in the morning, seven by the latest," said Izzy. The trainer looked at Izzy and Roark and said "Oh? So, you're out of town? Want to battle over that last room?" Izzy looked at the trainer and said nothing, but looked at Roark and said "I'll battle him. There's no way that you could walk for twelve hours with your leg like that." She turned back to the trainer and said, "I accept."

Behind the Pokémon Center, Izzy stood facing the trainer on opposite sides on the battlefield as Roark watched. "I'll go first. Cryogonal, go!" said the trainer as his Cryogonal appeared. "Go, Fraxure!" said Izzy as Fraxure came out. "A Fraxure? Man, are you a loser. Cryogonal, use Frost Breath" commanded the trainer as Cryogonal used his ice attack. "Fraxure, Dig" commanded Izzy as Fraxure dug underground. Cryogonal looked around for his opponent, but got hit by Fraxure. "Now, use X-Scissor" called out Izzy as Fraxure attacked Cryogonal. "Cryogonal, Ice Beam" called out the trainer as a frozen beam struck Fraxure. "Now, use Blizzard" commanded the trainer. Fraxure got hit again, and was barely standing. A glint appeared in Izzy's eyes as she called out "Now, Reversal" she called out as Fraxure attacked Cryogonal. The attack left Cryogonal weakened, but still standing. "Sheer Cold" called out the trainer, and Cryogonal attacked, but missed. "Iron Tail" commanded Izzy as Fraxure aimed a well-directed hit at the ice pokemon. Cryogonal fainted, as Fraxure stood victoriously.

The trainer glared angrily at Izzy, before he called out his next pokemon. "Go, Durant!" he called out as Durant appeared. "Fraxure, return. Go Corey" called out Izzy as Corey, her Infernape, appeared." "So you think that you can win with a Simsear? Durant, Guillotine" commanded the trainer as Durant came rushing towards Corey. "Corey, Flare Blitz" commanded Izzy as Durant got burned. A vein appeared on the other trainer as he called out "Flash Cannon!" as Durant got powered up. "Flame Charge" called out Izzy as Corey stomped the ground before charging while cloaked in flames. Corey was able to do damage to Durant, but not without hurting himself from the Flash Cannon. "Hyper Beam" called out the trainer as Durant began charging up another energy attack. "Heat Wave" called out Izzy as Corey let out the high-temperature attack. The Heat Wave was too much for Durant as it fainted.

Roark watched the other trainer snarled, before he sent out Scolipede. "Lancelot, go!" commanded Izzy as Escavalier appeared. Most of the pokemon he'd never seen before in battle, and was very intrigued by what they were. "Steamroller" commanded the trainer as Scolipede curled up and attacked Lancelot. Lancelot countered by using Aerial Ace, causing a good amount of damage to hit Scolipede. Scolipede tried to use Toxic, but it didn't affect Lancelot at all. _So, Lancelot's a Steel type. Dad might like him_ thought Roark as Lancelot used Iron Defense when Scolipede used Megahorn. A well-aimed Iron Head hit Scolipede, knocking out the gigantic insect pokemon. The trainer snarled, then said, "How about your boyfriend battles me? You two are sharing the same room anyway, so why not your squeeze battles me?" Roark looked irked as the trainer said what he said. "Oh, come on! He doesn't have a single pokemon on him!" called out Izzy. "So, if he doesn't have a single one, how come that there's a ball on his belt?" said the trainer as he pointed to Roark. Izzy looked at Roark, then said "Roark, did you bring Rampardos along?" He shook his head, then said "No, Rampardos is at the house. The one that I have is one that I only caught yesterday. He's never been in a trainer battle before." "Afraid that you'll lose?" sneered the trainer. Roark glared at him, then said, "I'm just worried that my pokémon will get hurt. I haven't had the chance to train him." "What a loser. I bet that you can't defeat the gym leaders at the Striaton Gym even if you tried," said the trainer. That struck a nerve with Roark. "Fine, we'll battle then," said Roark as he got up.

"Are you sure that you're up to this?" asked Izzy. Roark looked at Izzy and said "When he said that, not only did he insult my ability as a trainer, but as a Gym Leader in general" said Roark "I'm not letting that slide. I'll be fine, I promise." Roark took his place on the field and faced the trainer as he stared at the other. "I'll go first. Karrablast, go!" said the trainer as Karrablast appeared. "Karrablast" it said as it glared angrily at Roark. "Go, Drillbur" said Roark as he called out Drillbur. "Drillbur!" exclaimed Drillbur as he came out. "A Drillbur? Man, are you lame. Karrablast, use Fury Cutter!" called out the trainer. "Dig!" called out Roark as Drillbur dug a hole. "Like I've never seen that before. Swords Dance" called out the trainer as Karrablast began dancing to boost up his attack. Drillbur attacked, but then Karrablast did Double Edge. "Drillbur!" called out Drillbur as he got hit. A sweat-drop formed on Roark, before he got an idea. "Drillbur, Sandstorm" called out Roark. A sandstorm kicked up, blinding Karrablast. "Karrablast, use Take Down!" called out the other trainer as Karrablast tried to hit Drillbur. "Drillbur! Use Mud-Slap" commanded Roark as Drillbur began throwing mud at Karrablast. "Karrablast, Aerial Ace" called out the trainer as Karrablast took aim and charged at Drillbur. "Drillbur! Rock Tomb!" called out Roark. Drillbur began throwing rocks at Karrablast, entombing the insect. "Karra!" called out Karrablast. "Karrablast, use Energy Ball!" called out the trainer as Karrablast began gathering energy. "Rock Slide" called out Roark as Drillbur began burying Karrablast in rocks. A huge explosion happened when Karrablast fired his energy ball, kicking up the Sandstorm, before it settled. Nobody could see for the next few minutes, so the waited for the cloud to settle.

After the dust settled, Karrablast was found to be knocked out, but Drillbur was nowhere to be found. "Drillbur! Where are you?" called out Roark, but nothing happened. Roark frowned. _Drillbur must have fainted_ thought Roark, but then he heard some scratching sounds, followed by "Drillbur!" Drillbur dug himself out from the rubble, looked at his trainer, smiled, and then passed out. Roark smirked, then called Drillbur back. "You were great, Drillbur" said Roark once Drillbur was inside his pokéball. The other trainer snarled, then shouted, "I can't believe that I lost to a wimpy Drillbur and its wimpy trainer! I'll get better! I'll show you!" before he ran off. Roark looked pissed, before he said "There's no way that he'll be able to defeat Ash with an attitude like that. I hope that he meets Ash so he could teach him a lesson." "Did you say something, Roark?" asked Izzy. "Hmm? No, nothing important" said Roark. Izzy shrugged, then headed inside the Pokemon Center with Roark behind her. He was feeling rather tired.

The next day, Roark woke up with Izzy in his arms. He gently kissed her on her forehead to wake her up. She yawned, then looked up at Roark. "Morning, sleepyhead" said Roark. "Up already?" yawned Izzy. "Yeah" said Roark. They both stared at each other for a moment before they got out of bed and dressed. Today was going to be a long walk to get back to White Forest.

While they were in the Pokemon Center dining area, Roark looked around and saw all sorts of trainers with pokemon that he'd never seen before. He was rather curious on the pokemon species that he saw. "Izzy, what's that?" asked Roark as he pointed to a pink floating pokemon. "That? That's a Munna. They're Psychic pokemon that live in Unova. They're this region's version of a Drowzee, if you will," said Izzy. "Munna" said Munna as it nibbled on a Pecha berry given from its trainer. Roark then noticed a very weird pokemon that gave him the chills by just staring at it. This pokemon was brown, red, and orange in color as small flames erupted from its long mouth. "Izzy, just what is _that_ thing?" asked Roark as he pointed at it. "That one? That's a Heatmor. They can be very powerful fire pokemon if they're trained well. Some of them can be very nasty, though" said Izzy. "Gothita" said a little black and purple pokemon as it approached Heatmor. Heatmor glared at it, with tongues of flames shooting out of his mouth. "Gooooottttth-ita" said the little purple and black pokemon as its eyes glowed, making Heatmor float. _"Yaaahhh! Get me down! Get me down!"_ yelled Heatmor as Gothita used Telekinesis to make Heatmor float. Roark chuckled as he saw Heatmor get frightened by such a small pokemon. Izzy saw the sight and shook her head. She looked at Roark and said "Most psychic pokemon from the Sinnoh area don't happen to look that cute or innocent when comparing to some Unova region pokemon. You may look at some Unova region psychic pokemon and think that they're cute until you actually make them mad. Then they're scary." Roark couldn't help but chuckle at what Izzy said.

After they collected their pokemon, Roark and Izzy were heading out of the Pokemon Center when he saw a huge rock pokemon. It was a navy blue in color with large red crystals emerging out of its body. The earth shook with every step that it took as it walked with its trainer. Roark was amazed at the pokemon as it passed him. "Roark? Is something up?" asked Izzy. Roark was still staring at the pokemon when Izzy tapped him on the shoulder. "Hmm?" said Roark as he looked at Izzy. "I asked if something was up," said Izzy. "Oh, I was just looking at that pokémon," said Roark as he pointed to the colossal pokemon. "That? That's a Gigalith. They're really powerful rock pokemon that are said to be capable of blasting away a mountain from the amount of energy that they store in their bodies," said Izzy. "Gigalith" said Roark as he left the Pokemon Center with Izzy.

Roark didn't say much after they left Black City and walked to White Forest with Izzy. They were walking in silence for about five hours before Izzy looked at Roark and said "Roark, you've been silent for five hours. I know that something is on your mind." "Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking about Gigalith. Before I leave the Unova region, I would like to catch one" said Roark. Izzy shook her head then said, "Finding a wild Gigalith is very rare, but I do happen to know about his pre-evolved forms. They are Boldore and Roggenrola. I know that you can find Boldore and Roggenrola within caves, and there are some caves in Unova that I happen to know of. Mostly, I've heard of both Boldore and Roggenrola appearing in Chargestone Cave." "Chargestone Cave?" said Roark. Izzy nodded, then said, "Chargestone Cave is a very beautiful and mysterious place. The cave itself is filled with electromagnetic and ionized stones and crystals. Many of the rocks are seen floating within the cave." Wait? Did he hear that correctly? "Floating rocks in Chargestone Cave?" said Roark in disbelief. Izzy nodded, then said, "Yep, you heard me, floating rocks. Of course, Chargestone Cave is a little dangerous because there are lots of Joltiks, Galvantulas, Klinks, Klangs, Klinklangs, and Ferroseeds living within that place." "There are a lot of what?" said Roark. "Steel-type and electric-type pokemon" said Izzy "If you want to go there, we could, but only after your leg heals." Roark nodded, then continued thinking about Chargestone Cave. A place with floating rocks, and the pre-evolved forms of Gigalith. Roark could only wish a place like that was near Oreburgh City. _Looks like Unova is a more mysterious place than I thought. I would love to explore Unova one day_ thought Roark.

When they got back to Izzy's house, it was after midnight. Roark limped upstairs to go to sleep in his own bed while Izzy headed for the showers. Outside, Cranidos felt something happening with her body. It was time.

The next day, Roark woke up rather late. It was after twelve when he woke up. He cursed himself for waking up so late, then got dressed. Izzy was downstairs, making lunch. "Good afternoon, sleeping beauty," said Izzy as Roark entered the kitchen. He sat down as he rubbed his leg. It was healing nicely, but some of the wrappings were itchy. Izzy then looked outside for a moment then said, "Mickael hasn't come by for his breakfast. He usually comes here on a timely manner when it comes to poffins. I'm worried about him." Roark then stopped with what he was doing then looked outside, before he looked at Izzy and said "Do you suppose that Cranidos has laid her egg? She was very close to laying her egg yesterday." "I suppose that it's possible. I only know of Spectral laying her egg, and that took a very long time to hatch. It did take Spectral about a month for her to lay her egg to begin with, so I can tell you only the gestation of legendary pokemon, but not rare or common ones" said Izzy.

After lunch, Roark headed out into the forest with his notebook and a basket full of poffins. Drillbur was carrying the poffin basket for Cranidos, while Roark was carrying the one for Mickael. He was hoping for Mickael to let him stay so he could actually watch Cranidos lay her egg. By the time that he got there, Roark saw Cranidos collecting foliage to bury her egg. Roark was a little disappointed that he missed the chance to actually watch Cranidos lay her egg, but at least he was seeing how the parents watched and took care of their egg. "Mickael, I have a treat for you" said Roark as he held out a poffin. Mickael approached Roark and gently took the poffin from his hand. Mickael then took the basket and began eating the rest of the poffins in the basket.

"Drillbur" said Drillbur as he handed a poffin out for Cranidos. She didn't seem to notice the poffin, so Roark tried. "Here, Cranidos. I have a poffin for you. It's your favorite: a sweet and spicy poffin" said Roark. Still, Cranidos didn't pay attention as she continued to apply nesting material to her egg. Roark was puzzled a little bit, but he sat down and started taking notes.

_A female Cranidos will apply foliage to cover the egg after it is laid. The female doesn't stop to eat as she has a job to cover the nest. Cranidos' eggs are gray in color, but with a large light-blue splotch on top of the egg, and some blue splotches on the sides of the egg. Right below the top light-blue splotch, are several large white dots encircling the top of the egg._

Roark paused as he saw Cranidos poking at several locations with her snout around the egg, then left to come back with more foliage. She continued to do this until she was satisfied, then came over to eat some poffins.

_The female Cranidos uses her snout to test the temperature of the egg. If it is too cool, she applies more foliage until it reaches an even temperature. Only after the egg reaches the right temperature does the female stop to eat._

Once she was finished eating the poffins, Cranidos returned to check on the egg's temperature. Roark saw Cranidos remove some foliage, testing the temperature with her snout.

_If the egg becomes too warm, the female Cranidos will remove foliage until the egg cools down._

Cranidos kept on checking the egg's temperature throughout the day to make sure that it was the right temperature. Cranidos kept on checking the temperature of the nest for the next two days until…

Roark came by to the clearing once again, and he saw Mickael wagging his tail as Cranidos began removing some foliage. Chirping sounds were coming from the egg as both Mickael and Cranidos kept on making some chirping and clicking sounds back.

_Upon the day of hatching, the female Cranidos will remove some foliage. The egg makes a chirping sound, and the parents make some chirping and clicking sounds back at the egg._

The egg began glowing before it became a baby Cranidos. Mickael sniffed it, but stopped. He glared at Cranidos before he gripped her neck and dragged her away from the baby Cranidos. The mother Cranidos tried to get back to her baby, but Mickael kept on pushing her away. The baby tried to crawl towards the parents, but Mickael kept on roaring at it. Roark tried to understand what was going on, but this baffled him completely. He couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on, or if this was even normal behavior for a family of Cranidos and Rampardos. He saw Mickael walk off into the forest with the mother Cranidos hurrying behind him, leaving the baby Cranidos behind. Roark decided to follow the parents to see what they were up to.

Mickael came to the fruit trees on the other side of the river and saw his brother Rampardos there. "_Oh, hello brother. What brings you here today?"_ asked Rampardos. "_Don't 'hello brother' me! You slept with Cranidos, didn't you? I smelled your scent on the baby when it hatched. How could you? I've been trying to get Cranidos to mate with me for months and you slept with her!"_ roared Mickael. Rampardos folded his arms as he leaned against a Pecha berry tree and said _"Jealous, aren't you? It's been 100 million years since I've last had a good fuck. She screamed my name as if she had the best fuck of her life." "She was a virgin! I wanted to be her first! She was untouched until you fucked her!"_ roared back Mickael. _"Stop! Will you two stop it!"_ cried Cranidos _"I slept with Rampardos because he wasn't so overprotective of me as you were, Mickael! When you mated with me, I slept with Rampardos earlier because he seemed more mature than you were. I didn't want my offspring to be as crazy as you were!" "Crazy! You're calling me crazy? You're a whore! Wasn't my phallus bigger than his?"_ roared Mickael in anger. _"Sure, Rampardos' phallus was smaller than yours, but his felt nicer in my uterus. Yours was too fucking big! I think that you broke my vagina that night! His felt snug in a very comfortable way!" _screamed Cranidos.

Roark was trying to understand what was going on as the two Rampardos shouted and roared at each other, with Cranidos roaring at them. He finally understood that his Rampardos was the actual father of the baby Cranidos, and not Mickael. Mickael was obviously upset at Cranidos and angry with his Rampardos for what happened. Roark had a thought: if Mickael was abandoning the baby Cranidos, then who would look after it? He got the impression that by the time that all three of them were finished arguing, the baby could be dead. Roark then got up and left; he had to check on the baby Cranidos.

The baby Cranidos was lying on her side with the sun blazing down on her. A flock of Mandibuzz were flying above her, waiting until the sun did their work of weakening her. They were patient when they saw Cranidos hatch and saw her parents abandon her. Cranidos was dying of thirst and heat exhaustion that summer day. It was unusually warm, and Cranidos was gasping for air. A few more minutes and it'll soon be over.

The leader of the flock flew down first, talons widely opened when… "Stop! Leave it alone!" screamed Roark as he came running through the trees. He dove and rolled over, snatching Cranidos away from the Mandibuzz. The Mandibuzz cawed in anger at Roark, but he stood his ground. His arms were protected Cranidos as he held her close to his chest. Mandibuzz stared at Roark for a moment before she flew off. Roark was proving to be a fierce competitor over Cranidos' safety.

Roark ran all the way through the forest to Izzy's house. He didn't care of the pain searing through his leg; all that he cared was for Cranidos' safety. "Izzy!" he called out when he reached the kitchen. Izzy looked up from cooking the poffins for the mother Cranidos, and said, "What's up?" "The baby Cranidos hatched, and it's sick" said Roark. Izzy looked shocked then ran over to Roark and Cranidos. She placed a hand over the baby Cranidos, then looked at Roark and said, "It's burning up! We have to get it to a Pokemon Center immediately."

Roark and Izzy both left the house immediately (but only after Izzy turned off the stove; she didn't want her house to burn down.) "Roark! The Pokemon Center's this way, not that way!" called out Izzy as Roark began heading towards Black City. He turned around and ran after Izzy through White Forest. They reached the Pokemon Center in record timing (they ran for ten minutes when it usually took her an hour to reach the center). "Nurse Joy! We have an emergency!" called out Izzy as Roark held on to Cranidos. Nurse Joy saw Cranidos, and called out "Audino! We have a sick baby pokemon!" "Audino" said Audino as she pushed out a stretcher. Roark placed Cranidos on the stretcher as Nurse Joy and Audino hurried to the emergency room.

Hours went by, as Roark felt sick, worried, terrified, scared, and…well, he couldn't explain the last one. It felt as if a parent was worrying about losing their only child after a terrible accident. Izzy felt scared as well; she held on to Roark's hand. Roark gripped Izzy's hand tight as he waited. Another two hours passed by when Nurse Joy came out. Roark looked up at her, and she smiled. "Looks like your pokemon is going to pull through. May I ask what happened?" "Well, Roark knows what happened. He was the one who brought Cranidos to me" said Izzy. Roark sighed, then looked up at Nurse Joy and said "Cranidos' parents abandoned it. I was observing on how Cranidos and Rampardos raise their young when the egg hatched. Izzy's Rampardos sniffed it, then thundered off into the forest with the mother Cranidos, leaving the baby Cranidos behind. I followed the parents, and I saw Izzy's Rampardos arguing with my Rampardos. Both the Rampardos and Cranidos were all roaring at each other, but I was able to figure out that it was my Rampardos, and not Izzy's Rampardos, which was the father of the baby Cranidos. From the way the three were arguing, I figured that the baby would have died by the time that they finished so I went back to check on it. When I got back to the nest, some large bird pokemon were circling the baby Cranidos. I saw that one aimed to grab it with its talons, so I dove to get Cranidos out of the way. I then ran back to tell Izzy that Cranidos was sick." "Could it have been a Mandibuzz that tried to get Cranidos?" asked Izzy. "I don't know, Izzy. All I know that it was one that I've never seen before" said Roark. "You're not from around here, are you?" said Nurse Joy. "He comes from the Sinnoh region," said Izzy.

Nurse Joy left, then came back with a book on pokemon native to the Unova region. "Try to point out to the pokemon that you saw," said Nurse Joy to Roark. Roark flipped through the book, and pointed to a bird that had a pink head, brown and tan feathers, and dressed in bones. "It was Mandibuzz, alright" said Izzy "Those things have been known to carry off weakened pokemon to their nest, and decorate their nests and themselves in the bones of their victims." "It's a good thing that you brought Cranidos when you did," said Nurse Joy. "Can I see Cranidos?" asked Roark. "I'm afraid not," said Nurse Joy "Cranidos needs to spend the night here. She's not strong or well enough to leave the emergency room." "Is it possible that I spend the night with Cranidos? I'm very worried about her," said Roark. Suddenly, Audino came rushing out, pulling on Nurse Joy's hand. "Audino says that something's wrong with Cranidos" said Nurse Joy as she, Roark, and Izzy hurried to the Emergency Room.

Within the Emergency Room, Cranidos was twisting and trashing around, pulling on the life-support system attached to her. "Cranidos, you've got to calm down!" called out Nurse Joy, but Cranidos kept on trashing. "Audino! Audino audi dino au aud audino!" said Audino, but Cranidos kept on squirming. "Cranidos! I'm here! I won't leave you," said Roark as he approached Cranidos and placed a hand on her. She opened her eyes and saw Roark. She began calming down, and stopped trashing altogether. "I think that it's a good idea that I stay with Cranidos for the night" said Roark. Nurse Joy nodded in agreement. "I'll be at home, Roark. I'll come back in the morning," said Izzy as she placed a hand on Roark.

Later that night, Roark was sitting next to Cranidos with him holding her paw. For the second time in his life, Roark was afraid for his pokemon. _Arceus, if you're hearing me, please help Cranidos pull through. I've been through hell since Onix and Geodude died. Please, don't let me lose Cranidos. She's only a baby, and she hadn't had a chance to live. Please, please let her live_ prayed Roark as tears rolled down his eyes.

The night wore on, and at first daylight, Cranidos slowly opened her eyes. Roark looked up, tiredly, and smiled at Cranidos. He was up all night, staying with Cranidos in case something happened. Cranidos looked away from the sunlight, afraid of it. She still hadn't recovered from what happened yesterday, and…well, the only things that she could remember was the bright sun, a few flying shadows, and someone holding her close. She was fazing in and out of consciousness in somebody's arms, and then…this. She remembered being alone, when somebody came for her. That somebody then stayed here all night with her, making sure that she was ok. There were long things connected to her and something over her mouth, but she didn't know what they were. She liked where she was before, and that was…where was that? She remembered someplace dark, wet, and warm, but she remembered little else. Outside that place, it was scary. It was too hot, bright, and…well, she couldn't say that it was dry, but it wasn't like the wet place.

Cranidos looked at the somebody that was with her, and saw its paw. It was white (unlike Cranidos' paw), and then it changed color to a pinkish hue. That somebody had many colors on its body, and…well, she never saw herself in the mirror before, so she thought that she might have looked like it. Its paw was very soft to the touch (unlike her own paw, which was harder), and it had more claws or whatever they were. Suddenly, somebody else came into the room with something with big ears that had long stalks attached to its ears. The think was pink with a tan underbelly and had blue eyes. Cranidos tensed up when she saw the two things, before the somebody that was with her got up and talked to them. They talked for a few minutes, before they all came over to her.

"Cranidos should be well enough to leave the Pokémon Center" said Nurse Joy "However, she needs to be taking a specific vitamin-enriched formula so she could develop properly." Roark felt relived that Cranidos was well enough to leave, but he knew that he had to monitor her health for quite a while so she wouldn't get sick. He bent low, petted Cranidos' back and said "Hear that, Cranidos? You get to come home today. Isn't that exciting?" _Home? Where's home?_ Thought Cranidos.

A little while later, Roark was holding Cranidos close to his chest as he walked into the main lobby of the Pokémon Center. Izzy was waiting there with her baby Darkrai. Darkrai floated over to Cranidos and stared at her. Cranidos made a small whining sound then buried her face in Roark's shirt. "Darkrai?" said Night Shadow. "Looks like your Cranidos is afraid of Darkrai," said Izzy as she approached. "I think that she's afraid of everyone except for me," said Roark as he held Cranidos close to him. He looked at Darkrai, then looked at Izzy and said "Why did you bring Night Shadow here, Izzy? Wouldn't people react to Darkrai's presence here?" Izzy shook her head and then said, "Most of the townspeople already know about Darkrai. They know that he's harmless, and what's more, just a baby. Oddly, he doesn't cause nightmares, but I think that's because he's too young to do so." Roark was surprised by what Izzy had just said and then looked at Darkrai in wonder.

"Hey! Turn up the volume!" said a trainer to Nurse Joy as she turned up the volume to the Pokémon Center's TV. A female news reporter with reddish-brown hair, and wearing a yellow tan suit, was on TV as she said "Rhonda here, from Sinnoh News! Just hours ago, Oreburgh City has had a terrible explosion! The city itself has fallen through a massive sinkhole that was caused by a massive underground fire! Word has it that the methane gas was ignited due to an electrical fire caused by faulty wiring. The ignited fire has burned through the coal deposits located under the city, weakening the ground that the city rests on, which caused the sinkhole. No one is sure who is responsible, but whoever was in that underground part of the mine under the city is to blame. We now—Ow! Jack! Will you hold that microphone steady? The news story of my life is happening right now!" "Sorry about that, Rhonda" said Jack.

"Wow, a city disappearing within a sinkhole!" said Izzy as she stared at the TV. Everybody was staring at the TV in shock or horror, all but one. Roark grind his teeth as rage and anger pumped though his veins. He was extremely pissed at what the news reporter said. "Here, take Cranidos," said Roark to Izzy "I have somebody to call." Izzy took Cranidos in a little bit of shock as Roark stomped over to the phones. Cranidos flinched and trembled, before Night Shadow said to her _"What's wrong?" "Daddy just left me,"_ said Cranidos _"Why did he do that?" "He didn't do that. He had to talk to someone. He'll be back,"_ said Night Shadow.

Roark dialed a number, and waited as the phone rang. The screen came clear on the other end, but he saw that the user wasn't answering. "Eddy! Pick up!" shouted Roark. Eddy came onto the screen as he was looking at his Pokétch and said "Hey, Roark! I thought that you were still on your fossil expedition." "I was, but I broke my leg, and the fossil expedition turned into a disaster. I just saw on the news that Oreburgh City was just destroyed. What the fuck happened?" shouted Roark. Eddy looked terrified, then said "Well, there were some fossil hunters that came by, and they wanted some of our fossils from the mine. They paid a huge sum for me to take them to the tunnels under the city. We took all precautions for…" said Eddy before Roark cut him off. "I told you that those tunnels are permanently closed. I told you repeatedly that there was too much damage to those mines for any further excavation for coals and fossils. Plus, there was a dangerous amount of methane gas, and the floor was creeping. Those tunnels were too dangerous to enter in, and I told everybody that those tunnels were off limits forever" said Roark in a stern voice. "But Roark, that section of the mines had…" said Eddy before Roark screamed at him "YOU'RE FUCKING FIRED!" Roark slammed the phone on the hook, ending the transmission. He turned around and walked back to Izzy.

Both Cranidos and Darkrai had their hands over their ears when Roark returned. "I told them to cover their ears as part of a game," said Izzy when Roark approached her. "Thank you, I didn't want Cranidos to learn some of the words that I said," said Roark as he took back Cranidos. "I think that we'd better leave, Roark. You were making quite a scene on the phone back there" said Izzy. Roark nodded in agreement, then left the Pokémon Center with Izzy as all of the trainers stared at Roark.

Roark and Izzy were walking back to Izzy's house as Cranidos nuzzled her head into Roark's shirt. He stroked her head affectionately as the clouds overhead them passed as the wind blew on them. A bit of sunlight came out, startling Cranidos. "Crain!" she squeaked as she buried her face into Roark's chest. "Shh, Cranidos, it's ok. It's just the sun. It won't harm you," said Roark. Cranidos still trembled at the sunlight, but slowly, she began to relax. "Dos?" she said as she reached for the sunlight with her paw. Roark smiled at Cranidos when she said "Dos!" and began reaching for the sunbeams with both arms.

Later, at Izzy's house, Roark was making Cranidos' special formula. Amazingly, Izzy had all the berries needed to make Cranidos' formula, along with several vitamins to add to the liquid. "Here you go, Cranidos," said Roark as he walked into the living room and began bottle-feeding the baby dinosaur. She sucked on the bottle as Roark held her as he sat on the couch. Mickael came into the room, and sat on the couch as he turned on the TV. "Now, part of the groundbreaking news in Oreburgh City is…(click)…Unova's Pokémon Musical" said the TV as Mickael changed the channel to his favorite show. "Hey! Change it back!" said Roark as Mickael ignored him. Roark stared at Mickael and said, "I told you to change it back. They were playing the crisis that was happening in my hometown!" Mickael growled at Roark, and continued to watch Pokémon Musical.

An hour passed, and then Mickael left the living room when his show was over. "Finally" said Roark as he switched back to the news. "…and that was our special on what happened in Oreburgh City. This is Rhonda, only on Sinnoh News." Roark gritted his teeth as he saw the news about his hometown was over. _Fuck! Now, I'll never know what they said_ thought Roark.

Izzy came into the living room, and saw that Roark was in a foul mood. "Roark? What happened?" asked Izzy. "Mickael changed the channel to Pokémon…something when they were playing the news about Oreburgh City. Now, I'll never know what they said about my hometown" said Roark. "What channel was it on?" asked Izzy. "I don't know, but it was on Sinnoh News. I don't know the channels for Unova" said Roark. "Here, let me have the remote. There's a huge time difference between Unova and Sinnoh, Roark," said Izzy as she switched to the Unova news station. "Breaking News! In the Sinnoh Region, Oreburgh City had just disappeared into a flaming sinkhole. This miner, Eddy Stonewall, who was responsible for the destruction of Oreburgh City, started the accident in the Sinnoh Region. We have received an interview from the Sinnoh Region between Eddy and interviewer Rhonda when Eddy's boss, Roark, called him up. Roark is the Gym Leader in Oreburgh City and is the son of Byron, who is the Gym Leader of Canalave City." Roark and Izzy watched the recorded interview between Eddy and Rhonda when Eddy's Pokétch went off. Roark was surprised that all the curse words that he said were still in the interview. Once the interview was over, the news had returned to Unova. The reporter said "Since Oreburgh City is destroyed, all the inhabitants who got out in time are forced to live in a refugee camp, and the Pokémon League has closed off the Oreburgh Gym until the city is relocated and rebuilt. Due to the high coal content in the Oreburgh Mines, toxic gases and raging fires are rampant in the underground tunnels. The Environmental Department has deemed the mines closed off forever due to the fires and poisonous gases. Many people are reported dead or missing."

Roark sighed at what had happened. His home was destroyed, the mines are closed off, the gym is closed off, and all those fossils at his house and the museum are most likely destroyed. He had a thought, then took Cranidos with him as he went over to Izzy's phone. "Roark, what are you doing?" asked Izzy. "I just remembered that I haven't called up my parents in several weeks. They must be worried sick about me," said Roark as he dialed his father's home number in Canalave City. The answering message played, and then Roark recorded his message. "Hello Dad and Mom. I'm sorry that I haven't called in several weeks. I actually broke my leg when I was in Unova, and I was hospitalized for a week. I didn't collect any fossils while I was in Unova, but that's not the worst part. Both my Onix and Geodude are dead because of one of the native pokémon in Unova, and I almost died myself. This wonderful trainer saved me, and she has taken care of me. I did get an exclusive opportunity to record the mating rituals and nesting behaviors between a female Cranidos and a male Rampardos, and I got to keep this baby female Cranidos. Want to say hello to my parents?" said Roark as he gave the phone to Cranidos. "Crani, crani cranidos!" she babbled happily into the phone before Roark resumed talking. "While I was in the Unova region, I managed to capture one of the native pokémon here known as a Drillbur. Once my leg heals, I'll try to go back to the desert and bring back some of the pokémon fossils only found in Unova. I'm sorry that I didn't call you sooner. I'm sorry if I worried the both of you. Goodbye, Dad and Mom" said Roark before he hung up.

_Amazing that Cranidos was a sick baby, huh? In later stories, she calls (and thinks that) Roark (is her) 'Daddy.' Funny that Roark cursed out so much in this episode, huh?_


	5. Memories of Steel

_This chapter is special because it features Roark's parents. Since we don't know who Roark's mother is, I wanted to give this one a special introduction. I don't own pokémon except for Amber._

Back in Canalave City, Byron and his wife were on his bed. The both of them were lying on it, with Byron staring up at the ceiling and his wife on his chest, crying into it. Both of them had received news from the Unova region that their son might have died on the fossil expedition. Byron shed a few tears at the though that his son most likely was dead. Lately, both Byron and Roark were becoming more competitive on who loved fossils the most. Roark decided to break that tie when he organized this expedition to the Unova region started and funded by the Nacrene City museum. "I'll show you, Dad, that I love fossils the most," said Roark before he left. "Ha! You wouldn't know some of the ancient pokémon there even if they bit you," said Byron to Roark. Now, since the possibility that his son was dead, Byron really regretted saying that. What also depressed him was that Oreburgh City was destroyed due to a mining accident, so they couldn't go back to their son's place. Byron though back to when he was but a young miner in that mine, when he first met his wife, and when he had his son…

Many years ago, Byron was nothing more than a sixteen-year old wielding a pickax within the Oreburgh Mine. He was hard at work, mining coal deep within the mine. The air was laced with dust and some methane gas, but he worked tirelessly within the mine. He had just finished his shift, and was walking back home when he first saw her. He saw the most beautiful girl in his entire life. She had brilliant cherry-blonde hair, untarnished peach pink-colored skin, the brightest amber eyes, and was dressed in the most expensive clothes that he'd ever seen. "Come on, Amber, there's one of the filth that works in that cave. We'd better leave before some of that dirt comes our way," said her father as he pulled her to their limo and drove off. Byron sighed then headed home. He knew that she was way out of his league.

Three days later, Byron was heading towards the mine when he saw her again. "Hello" she said. "Hello" said Byron. He was surprised that he saw her again. He didn't know what to say, until he saw the pokémon that she was holding. "What's that?" asked Byron as he pointed to the pokémon that she held. "This? This is a Dratini," she said as she held the pokémon closer to Byron. "Dratini? Isn't that a legendary pokémon?" asked Byron. "It was, but very recently, it was discovered that this pokémon exists. My parents paid a very fine price for this pokémon," said Amber as she stroked its head. "Dratini" it said. "It's a very beautiful pokémon," said Byron. "Why, thank you" said Amber. "But, I don't think that it's as beautiful as you" said Byron softly. "You do?" said Amber as she blushed a bit. Byron nodded, then said, "I think that you happen to be the most beautiful girl that I've ever seen. Words can't describe how beautiful you are." "Thank you for saying those words. I've never had anyone say such sweet words to me before. I've never met a man that was quite as gentlemanly as you before. I've met plenty of boys before, but they were quite snobbish and cared only for what their parents could provide for them. I've never had one that could put words quite the same way that you could," said Amber. "Thanks, I don't know what to say," said Byron. They stood in silence for a few moments before Amber said, "By the way, I've never got to know your name." "My name's Byron" he said. Amber nodded, then said "My name is Amber, in case you didn't get it from yesterday. I have to go before my parents find out that I've been with you. Will I see you again?" "Hopefully, yes. I always take this path to the mines" said Byron. "Goodbye, Byron" said Amber as she left. "Goodbye, Amber" said Byron as he headed for the mines.

Byron and Amber continued to see each other over the next few weeks in secret. Byron managed to show Amber the mine, but only from a distance. He pointed to the area where many fossils were found, and told her about a river that flowed near there. They agreed to meet there one night when both their parents were asleep. It was 12 am when Amber met Byron at the river. On one side of the river was a forest, but on their bank, there were large rocks, and a pebbly floor. Amber sat down next to Byron as the two stared up at the cloudless sky. The full moon was bright that night, and stars were out. Byron and Amber held hands as they watched the moon, before Amber turned to Byron and said "Byron, I'm curious about something." Byron looked at her and said, "Ok. What are you curious about?" "Well, I'm curious about…you know" she said. "No, I don't know," said Byron. Amber then rubbed Byron's crotch, then said, "I'm curious if we could do…you know, that." Byron blushed, then stuttered "We, we can-can't do that! What if you father finds out?" "Listen, Byron. My father wants to marry me to the son of an associate of his. I hate his son, so I want to have, you know, with you. I know that it'll be impossible to be with you when I turn eighteen, and I'll see less of you in the future. I want to have, you know, before I never see you again" said Amber. Byron was shocked, then said, "Does your father know about us?" "Not yet, but he has his suspicions. He wants to send me to a boarding school soon, and then it'll be impossible for me to see you. I just want to have that with you before I leave" said Amber. Byron stared at her for a moment before he said, "Ok, just be sure to pretend like this never happened" before he began unzipping himself. Amber unzipped the back of her dress, then removed her bra while Byron removed his pants. He took off his shirt as Amber removed her pantyhose from her legs. They stared at each other naked for a moment before Byron made the first move. He gently wrapped an arm around Amber as his free hand gripped her breast gently. He moved her down to the pebbly ground gently, and pushed her legs apart with his leg. Amber flinched and allowed Byron to swallow her screams in his deep kiss as he penetrated her.

Amber's eyes widened when Byron began moving in her. She moaned when Byron hit a specific spot in her, and she moved her hands down his back. He was muscular without any trace of fat on him, a muscled perfection of the human body. He continued slowly for the next hour until she screamed in pleasure. Byron looked tired when he finished with Amber, and he stroked her hair gently with his hand. Her hair felt so soft, as if it was the finest silk. Amber's skin was petal soft, like some of the roses that he saw before the coal waters polluted some of the areas. The area where he made love to Amber was one of the last untouched places near Oreburgh City, just like Amber before tonight.

Byron gently stroked Amber with one hand as he had his arm wrapped around her back. He let off a deep growl as Amber nibbled on his neck with her lips. He whispered sweet nothings into her ear as the moon glowed a silvery color above them. Soon, it was time for them to head for home. As Byron was putting his pants back on, Amber was staring up at the moon. "Don't you think that the moon is beautiful, Byron?" asked Amber. Byron paused for a moment then looked up and said, "Yes, it is. I've heard some people say that one day, a man will land on the moon. Isn't that funny, putting people on the moon?" "I don't think so; I think that someday people will leave this Earth and head for the heavens" said Amber. Byron shook his head, then said, "As far as I know, people will always stay on this Earth. I think that Arceus wouldn't allow us to head for the heavens; it's his place after all. I believe that Arceus placed people on Earth to live out our lives here so we could coexist with the pokémon that inhabit the planet." Byron remained silent for a moment, then said "However, I do believe that Arceus wanted us to meet with each other. I hope that he allows us to see each other again." "I hope so too, Byron, I hope so too" said Amber.

It has been three weeks since Amber had last seen Byron, and she felt so sad. Her father had planned for the family to leave the area near Oreburgh City and head for Sunyshore City; after all, he had some suspicions. Amber looked out the window, and cried; she was never going to see Byron again! A bout of nausea hit Amber, and she raced to the bathroom. She had bouts of nausea, irritability, and other bizarre symptoms for the last week. Her father had arranged to have a doctor appointment three days ago, and her family was awaiting the results. "Amber! Get down here!" boomed her father. Nervously, Amber headed downstairs. What was going to happen was something that she never though would happen.

Her father tapped his foot impatiently as he awaited his daughter. Amber approached her father, and he glared at her. "The doctor had just phoned me, and he said that you're pregnant. My suspicions are finally confirmed; you've been seeing that filth again, haven't you?" said Amber's father very angrily. Amber looked at her father with fright in her eyes; deep down, she knew that he was right the whole time. "Since that filth has soiled you with his seed, you are no longer the precious pure flower that I hoped to have within the arranged marriage with my associate's son. Your sister will have to do in your place. You have brought disgrace to our entire family," said her father sternly. Amber lowered her head in shame; she didn't want to bring disgrace to her entire family, but she wanted to really see Byron. Amber raised her head, then said, "He isn't filth. His name is Byron, and I love him. He happens to be the nicest person that I have ever met in my entire life. He respects me for who I am, and I love him for who he is. I'll always love him for who he is, and he's the type of person that I would want to spend my entire life with." Her father was taken aback in horror. His daughter, spending the rest of her life with that filth? _That could easily be arranged_ thought Amber's father.

Byron was watching the sun set outside his family's porch. He missed Amber for the last three weeks. He sighed, then thought _Her father must have sent her away to that boarding school. I'll never be able to see her again._ "You've been seeing a girl, haven't ya?" wheezed Byron's grandpa. Byron looked at him as his grandfather smiled a rather toothy smile. "Yup, I've seen plenty-o young fellas like yourself in my time that have been seeing girls from other families that have feuds with each other. So, have ya been seeing some of the feudin' families that our family doesn't like?" asked Byron's grandfather. Byron rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Well, she's not from a feuding family…she's from someplace else." "Hmm" said Byron's grandfather "Is she from far away?" he asked. "You could say that," said Byron as he rubbed the back of his neck again.

"Hmm…is she from one of them upper classes?" asked Byron's grandfather as he looked down the river. "Well, yes, she is. She's from one of those really rich families; I even saw her with her Dratini a few times" said Byron. "Does she have red hair?" asked the grandfather again. Byron nodded, before his grandfather asked, "Does she look prettier than a good cartload of those diamonds that your father and you find within the mine?" "I think that she's more beautiful than a cave-full of diamonds," said Byron as he leaned back. "Is she coming down to your house?" wheezed grandpa. "I don't think so, I haven't seen her in three weeks" said Byron as he looked down at his feet. "Well, I believe otherwise" wheezed grandpa. Byron suddenly looked up from his feet and down in the direction of where his grandfather was looking. He couldn't believe his eyes: Amber was walking by the river to his house!

"Amber?" said Byron in shock before he happily exclaimed "Amber!" and ran down towards her. He ran up to her and embraced her tightly, as Byron's grandfather watched the young couple with a smile on his face. He saw Byron talking with his girl when Byron's father came out. "What is that boy think he doing?" said the father. "Your son has fallen in love with a girl from one of them upper classes" wheezed the grandfather. Byron's father smiled for a moment as a thought came to him. "One of those upper classes you say? If Byron marries her, we'll be living the fine life" he said as a hand rubbed his chin. The grandfather laughed, then said "Son, in my time, that wasn't always the case. Usually, it's the upper class girl running away from the family to spend her life with the man that she loves, giving up her high life." "I hope that you're wrong, dad" said Byron's father as Byron and Amber came back to the house.

Byron and Amber were sitting outside on the porch with Byron's grandfather as Byron's parents talked things over inside. Byron's father was disappointed that Amber's parents kicked her out of the house once they found out that she was pregnant with Byron's child. They were currently debating on what to do with Amber: should she stay, should they not allow Amber to live with them, or should they kick Amber out of the house along with Byron? Byron hoped to Arceus that his parents would allow Amber to stay with them, after all, he loved her.

Grandpa was rocking in his chair and smiling at the two lovers. "I wouldn't worry about your parents not allowing your girl to stay, Byron," he said. Byron looked at him, and asked, "Let me guess, you've seen this happen before?" "Yep" said grandpa before he added "I definitely have seen this before, in a way that you'll never be able to guess." Soon, Byron's parents came out and stood before Byron and Amber. Byron and Amber got up and faced the older couple before the father began "We've finished debating, and we decided to allow your girl to stay. Under the condition that she sleeps in your room, she has to find work for herself, you having to raise your child with your girl without relying on us to care for it, and for you to get married when you can afford it." Byron smiled, then bowed in respect for his father as he said, "I greatly thank you, father."

Months passed, and Byron was working in the mines again. Amber found work several months ago in a café where she has to wash the floors, wash the dishes, get peoples' orders, and clean the tables. It was hard work, but at least she was earning her keep at his house in his parents' eyes. Byron breathed through the scarf that he wore around his mouth; he was lucky that he found one. Most miners had no protection against the coal dust within the mines. A loud rumble echoed through the mine tunnels that Byron worked in, Byron and many other miners felt the vibrations. There were many tunnel cave-ins recently, and new tunnels were dug to find richer deposits of coal. Sometimes, it was the formation of a sinkhole that created the vibrations and rumblings. Byron felt a horrible feeling pass through him, then felt nothing. That sensation was weird; it wasn't like anything that he felt before. Miners came running past Byron screaming "Cave in, everybody help!" Byron ran with them. Whatever that feeling he had was, he knew that this cave in was bad.

Hours later, Amber woke up in Byron's bed. Byron was next to her, asleep. Amber tried to move, but every part of her body ached. She relaxed as she thought about the last thing that she could remember. She was in the café, washing dishes when she felt the whole building shake. She closed her eyes, and thought a little bit harder. She remembered the ceiling falling when she heard Byron moan. She moved her head a bit, then asked "Byron, are you awake?" "Hmm?" said Byron before he opened his eyes, and looked at Amber sadly. "What happened? The last thing I remember was that I was at work before I blacked out. How did I get here?" Byron looked at her sadly, then said "There was a cave in, and your café was where the cave in occurred. It sank though a sinkhole, and several people died. You got out alive, but…" before he stopped, then said "you had a miscarriage. You're no longer pregnant." Amber cried silently as Byron pulled her close to his body.

A couple of months passed since the incident and Byron were once again relaxing on the porch with Amber. The both of them had finally gotten over Amber's miscarriage, and were just holding each other. What the both of them didn't notice was a particular pokémon crawling out of the bushes and walking slowly towards the river. It collapsed before it cried out "Shield." Byron and Amber looked towards the pokémon fell, then approached it cautiously. "What is it?" asked Amber. "It looks like…a Shieldon," said Byron as he got a closer look at the pokémon. "A Shieldon? Aren't those pokémon extinct?" asked Amber in puzzlement. "They are" said Byron. "How do you know that it's a Shieldon?" asked Amber. "I've seen fossils of these pokémon within the mines, so I know how they look like," said Byron. He inspected the Shieldon closer, then looked at Amber and said "It's been hurt, really badly too. We have to take it inside" as he picked up the little shield pokémon and took it inside the house.

Byron gave Shieldon some food and water, while Amber tended its wounds. Shieldon wagged his tail happily after eating the food and happily said "Shieldon." It walked up to Byron and licked his hand. "Your welcome, little buddy" said Byron. Byron's parents then walked in the front door, and were shocked to find the little pokémon in the kitchen. "Just what is that thing, and what is it doing in the kitchen?" asked Byron's father. "This? This is a Shieldon," said Byron. Byron's father knelled down to Shieldon and said to it "If you're a Shieldon, then how come you're not extinct?" "Shieldon" said Shieldon as it licked Byron's father's face. He looked at the little Shieldon and said "Unless you can get a job by working in the mines, you're out of here." "Come on, dad. Can't you let me keep him?" asked Byron. The father looked at Byron and said "I let your girl stay here, but I am not allowing for you to have a pet. Unless it proves its worth, it can't stay." Byron looked down at Shieldon and frowned. Shieldon was smaller than the normal Shieldon fossils that he saw, so this one probably was the runt in its litter. _I hope that you can prove your worth within the mines, little one. I would really like you to stay here with us_ thought Byron.

The next day, Byron was down within the mines with Shieldon. Many of the other miners laughed at Byron for bringing such a small pokémon to the mines. Even the other mining pokémon pointed and laughed at Shieldon. Byron said nothing as he got to work. Shieldon watched the other miners fill carts up with coal, and watched pokémon push out the carts. Shieldon wandered off to a section of the mine where one of the miners was shouting to the then foreman of the mines. "I told you, Rhyhorn has a busted leg. He can't push out this coal cart with the state that he's in. We need Aggron to push out this heavy cart," said one of the miners. "Aggron is busy pushing out a large chunk of coal, so he's not available," shouted back the foreman. While the two miners were shouting at each other, Shieldon went behind the cart and started pushing with his large shield-like head. The two miners didn't notice Shieldon pushing the coal cart along the tracks and down the mine.

Shieldon managed to push the cart all the way up to the entrance of the mine and into the outdoors. He stopped, and looked around the place. He saw where the other mining pokémon pushed the carts, and followed them. Eventually, the pokémon came to where the coal was loaded onto trucks and sent off to the factories in Oreburgh. Shieldon pushed his cart to one of the trucks, and watched the coal get loaded onto a truck. "Aggron and a number of our strongest pokémon are still trying to haul that coal up the mines to the surface, but they're having trouble pushing the chunk" said one miner. "We've sent some of our best miners down to the 'X' tunnel, but they can't get the large chunk of coal up neither" said another miner. Shieldon turned around and headed down into the mines. He wanted to help.

Shieldon came across a Machop hauling coal into a coal cart. _"Excuse me, but can you tell me where the X tunnel is? I want to help out down there,"_ said Shieldon. _"X tunnel? Take the tunnel on your first right, then go straight until you come to a fork in the tunnels. Take the left, then pass six tunnels and head for the tunnel on your right. You will come to a large cavern. That is the X tunnel,"_ said the Machop. _"Thank you"_ said Shieldon as he went down the tunnel. _"Shieldons these days…don't know their way into the mine…Wait! A Shieldon?"_ said the shocked Machop as it accidentally dropped the coal that it was carrying on its foot. _"Ow!"_ yelled Machop.

Shieldon passed though the tunnels until he came to the X tunnel. He saw all these pokémon and miners trying to move the largest chunk of coal out of the mine. Shieldon climbed down the wall until he got to the chunk of coal within the pit. He saw the pokémon and miners pushing with their might to move the coal, but it wouldn't budge an inch. Shieldon got behind the coal, and started pushing with all of his might. "It's moving! Everybody, push!" shouted a miner as both pokémon and miners began moving the chunk of coal.

It took hours for the large chunk of coal to be moved out of the mine, but everyone managed to push it out of the mine. "This, fellow miners, will be placed in the Oreburgh museum" said the foreman as he patted the large chunk of coal. He turned to face all of them and said "Ok, everyone gather around for the photograph." All of the pokémon and miners gathered around to take a photo right in front of the large chunk of coal. Nobody noticed a small Shieldon standing within the front as the photographer took a photo of everybody. "Nice work. It was nice to get that little Shieldon within the photograph," said the photographer. _Shieldon?_ Thought everybody as the looked at each other in wonder before they stared down at the little Shieldon within the front. "Shieldon" it said happily. "Quick! Somebody catch it!" one miner shouted before all the miners dog-piled on Shieldon. Shieldon managed to get out of the way before he got crushed, then he ran back into the mines.

Everybody started searching for Shieldon, but the couldn't find him. "Where did it go?" said one miner as he walked further into the mines. Shieldon was hiding behind a rock, then ran when the coast was clear. He hid in a mining cart, but it started moving. "Shieldon" it happily said as the cart began rolling down the mines.

"I told you, Shieldon went down this way!" shouted one miner as he pointed to a tunnel sloping down to his left. "No, I saw him go down this tunnel!" shouted another miner as he pointed to an opposite-facing tunnel. "No, Shieldon went down this way!" said a third miner as he pointed to a third tunnel. Suddenly, they all heard a rolling sound and saw a mining cart roll down the tracks with Shieldon sitting on an edge. "Shield" it said as it passed them. "Quick! Grab some carts and follow that Shieldon!" shouted one of the miners as they began running after Shieldon.

Shieldon passed through many tunnels within his mining cart as the cart rolled down the tracks. Several miners and pokémon were after the little shield pokémon, including Aggron and the foreman. Shieldon, the miners, and the pokémon in their carts passed through many tunnels within the Oreburgh Mines, with each cart making turns and changing tracks. Shieldon's cart passed through some dark tunnels, followed by the foreman's cart and Aggron's cart. When they got out of the dark tunnels, the foreman found Shieldon within his cart. "Ah-ha! Got ya!" said the foreman before they passed through a dark tunnel. When they came out, Shieldon was gone. "Hey! Where he'd go?" said the foreman. Aggron also passed through a dark tunnel, and when he came out, he saw Shieldon within his cart. _"Come here, ya little fossil. I've got you now,"_ said Aggron as he grabbed Shieldon and held him within his two claws. They managed to pass through another dark tunnel, and Aggron couldn't see anything. When they came out, Aggron saw he was holding the foreman's neck within his claws. "Ok Aggron, what's the big idea?" said the foreman as he stared at Aggron angrily.

Shieldon was back in his own cart, while a number of carts with miners and pokémon were behind him. Shieldon's cart passed through a series of tunnels and passageways until he came into this colossal cavern with all the mining tracks going in every direction. Shieldon took a deep plunge as his cart rattled down the old tracks, bouncing up and down on some of the more uneven bumps. Large loops and slopes were within the cavern, as Shieldon spun and his cart rattled even more, with Shieldon waving his front legs and screaming _"Wheeee!"_ the whole time. For the other pokémon and miners, they all screamed "Aaaahhhhaaaa! Mommy! I want to get off! I'm going to puke!" The whole cavern riding experience was like riding the world's largest and longest roller coaster, as Shieldon's cart exited through one of the tunnels.

Byron was still mining when Shieldon came back in his cart. "Shield!" said the little pokémon happily. Byron looked sternly at his pokémon and said "Shieldon, I was worried about you. You had me worried half to death with you wandering off in this mine. I don't want you to ever wander off like this again, got it?" "Shield" said Shieldon sadly, before Byron patted it on its back. "Now, I'm going to load this cart up with coal, and you can help me push it to the surface, ok?" said Byron and Shieldon said "Shield" happily.

Shieldon and Byron had just finished up their shift and were pushing up the last cart of coal up for the day when the foreman, Aggron, and several other miners and their pokémon came out of the mine and collapsed. "I can't believe it. We've lost that little Shieldon within the caverns. It could have led us to where it came from" said the foreman. Aggron was breathing hard when he noticed the little Shieldon standing next to Byron. "Aggron agg!" it said as it pointed to Shieldon. The foreman saw Shieldon too, and said "Good work, Aggron" before he scrambled out and started running towards Shieldon. "Shield!" said Shieldon in a frightened manner before he ran and hid behind Byron's legs. "Byron, don't move! There's a Shieldon behind your legs," said the foreman. "I know, he's mine" said Byron. The foreman looked at Byron with a shocked look and said "Yours?" Byron nodded, then said "Yes, I found him yesterday by my house." "Your house?" said the foreman as he got an idea. He left Byron and went to find Byron's father.

Byron later returned home with Shieldon following him. Byron looked down at Shieldon and said, "Father would be most pleased with your help within the mine today. I'm sure that he would let you stay" as Shieldon wagged his tail happily. When he got to his house, Byron saw the foreman talking to Byron's father. Shieldon hid behind Byron's legs and trembled as Byron looked down at it and said, "Don't worry, Shieldon. I won't allow father to sell you or anything."

The two approached the house as the foreman and Byron's father finished talking together when the father looked down at Byron. "Son, the foreman says that he would like to borrow Shieldon so it could lead him to its family and friends" said the father. Byron had a bad feeling about this and said, "I don't think that I could lend him Shieldon, father. Shieldon's my friend, and he only trusts me and Amber." "Byron! Don't be so selfish!" shouted Byron's father as the foreman thought for a moment. "How about if you let me borrow Shieldon so it could lead me to its family and friends, and I'll give your father that promotion that he always wanted and I'll give you a raise" said the foreman. Byron's heart leapt at the chance of getting a raise; his family could always use the money. "Ok, I'll let you borrow Shieldon, but only under the condition that I come along too. There's a good chance that Shieldon won't listen to you, but he'll listen to me when we go to find his friends and family," said Byron. "Deal" said the foreman as he shook hands with Byron. Shieldon looked up at Byron as he knelt down and stroked his pokémon's back, saying, "Don't worry, Shieldon. I'll make sure that nothing bad happens when the three of us go together."

Shieldon had doubts about the whole thing as he stayed up that night, thinking about what his friend and the foreman agreed to. He was up, staring at the moon within the family's living room. Byron wanted some alone time with Amber that evening, so Shieldon left so the two lovers could be alone. While he was the runt of the litter, his older siblings would often pick on him, and his mother didn't seem to care that he was so small. The other Shieldon would poke fun at him and say that he was a little baby due to his small size. Only his father Bastiodon gave a damn about him. He would often train with his father for long hours so he could become stronger. His father often hurt him while training to make him stronger, or make him the alpha male as his Bastiodon father put it. When he was older, he was supposed to undergo this ritual where he would fight other Shieldons to win the favor of a mate. Shieldon was never crazy about finding a mate in his colony because the females would often go after his other male siblings. Shieldon would wish that he would find a female pokémon that would care for who he is, and not because he was the strongest male.

Shieldon rested his body on the old torn couch that was in the living room. Springs were coming out of the couch, as well as cotton. Patches of fabrics were stitched all over the couch, which was a faded green. Shieldon closed his eyes. He knew that his father was well disappointed in him. He remembered once long ago, when he heard his parents talking:

"_I'm disappointed in our son. I've trained him the best that I could, but he's too small. He will never make a strong warrior. I'm just training him so he could at least die fighting when encountering a predator. I really wish that egg you laid was eaten by some of the scavenger pokémon in this area," said the male Bastiodon. The female Bastiodon looked at her husband and said, "I wish that he died as well. He's so slow, and easily gets knocked over when he headbutts and tackles the other Shieldons. I don't see on how he will survive long enough for him to evolve. Maybe we should abandon him one day when he's not looking. It's the only thing that I can think that we can do."_

That was the day when he found himself on his own. He wandered the forest, and got attacked by several pokémon. He ran away as fast as he can, and he got even more lost. Of course, that was the same day that he met Byron. Byron seemed to love Shieldon even more than his own parents could ever have. Tomorrow, he was going to betray his Shieldon herd by leading Byron and that foreman to them. Strange, even though he hated his herd, he still loved them.

The next day, Shieldon was busy eating some berries that grew nearby Byron's house. They didn't taste as well as the ones from deep within the forest, but they were still edible. He was busy munching on a Pecha berry when the foreman came over. Shieldon watched him carefully with one eye as Byron's father was talking to him. Soon, Byron came out, and started talking to the foreman as well. Shieldon sighed. He was going to betray his herd.

Shieldon slowly led the foreman and Byron deep within the forest, slowly passing the trees and shrubbery on his four little feet. He could still smell from what direction that he came from, and he was worried on what would happen to Byron if he didn't follow the scents that were still embedded into the ground. He sniffed the ground as he continued to lead the two humans deep within the forest, and he thought about what Byron's father said the night before. Byron's father said something about kicking Byron out of the house if Shieldon failed them, and that he would be selling Shieldon to the foreman. Now, Shieldon didn't know what "kicked out" or "selling" meant, but he felt that it was something really bad.

Hours passed, and Shieldon kept on sniffing the ground. The foreman became impatient, then said to Byron "How long does it take for a Turtwig with a plate on his head to find his herd?" "Be patient. Shieldon is doing the best that he can," said Byron as the three walked deeper into the forest.

Suddenly, Shieldon stopped and listened with interest. He ran ahead, and poked his head through some bushes. Byron and the foreman followed closely behind, and they saw a herd of Shieldons with a few Bastiodons watching over them. "Looks like Shieldon is talking to them," said Byron quietly as he saw his Shieldon talking to some other Shieldons larger than it. Without warning, the Shieldons were headbutting Byron's Shieldon around as if it was a ball. "Shield!" called out Shieldon as he went flying back into the air and hit a tree behind Byron. "Shieldon! Are you ok?" asked a concerned Byron as he held his friend. Shieldon was knocked out, when the foreman called out Aggron. "Aggron use Hyper Beam on the Shieldons!" shouted the foreman as Aggron used Hyper Beam on the herd. Shieldons went flying everywhere before the adult Bastiodons gathered around Aggron. They formed an impassable wall to defend their young as they stared at Aggron angrily. "Aggron, use Double-Edge" called out the foreman. Aggron charged at the Bastiodons, but they wouldn't budge an inch. "Use Hyper Beam" he called out as Aggron began charging up for a powerful energy attack. He fired his Hyper Beam at them, but none of the Bastiodons had a single scratch on them. A frustration mark appeared on the foreman's head before he shouted "Earth Power!" Aggron got down low, and sent out fissures at the Bastiodons. The Bastiodons lost their footing, and they fell down, weakened from the attack. "Fire Blast!" called out the foreman as Aggron shot out fiery stars at the larger shield pokémon. The foreman then threw all of the pokéballs that he had on him, and he caught every wild Bastiodon and Shieldon. He loaded the pokéballs into a large sack that he had before he called back Aggron. "Well, that's quite a catch that we've got today, Byron," said the foreman as he turned around, but he couldn't find Byron anywhere. Byron had left for home long ago with his Shieldon.

Shieldon woke up hours later and was depressed. He hoped to warn the others, but they used him as their plaything again. He sighed. He didn't know what happened, but he had a feeling that none of them got out in time. It took Shieldon a few minutes to realize that he was in Byron's bed in between Byron and Amber. Both of the humans were sleeping peacefully with their hands resting on Shieldon. He closed his eyes. As much as his old family picked on him, he still loved them, but Byron and Amber seemed to be making up his new family. Of course he loved his new family, but he was somehow very angry with Byron for agreeing with the foreman in capturing the Shieldons. Shieldon sighed. This new family life was a lot more complicated than living with the herd back in the forest.

The next evening, Byron saw Shieldon sitting by the river, looking at the sunset. "Hey, Shieldon, what's up?" asked Byron, but Shieldon wasn't talking to him. Byron sat down next to Shieldon and looked at him for a while before he said to him "So…you're giving me the silent treatment, aren't you?" Shieldon said nothing, but glared at his friend. Byron sighed, then said "Listen, I'm sorry for what I made you do, but we had little choice in the matter. If I didn't agree with the foreman, he would have fired me, Dad would have kicked Amber and me out of the house, and Dad would have sold you to the foreman. I didn't want to lose you, Shieldon. You're my pokémon, and I'm willing to defend you so we don't get separated." Shieldon looked at Byron for a moment, before he looked away. Byron sighed; he knew that this was going to take a long time.

Back in the present…

Byron stroked his wife as he thought about his argument with Shieldon. It took a few good weeks before Shieldon started talking to Byron again, but it took several months before Shieldon regained his friendship with Byron. Of course, Shieldon only forgave Byron when he saw some of the other Shieldons and Bastiodons working in the mines, but then Shieldon quickly apologized to Byron when he found out how big of jerks the others of his kind could be. They tried to bury Shieldon in one of the deposits of coal, but Byron was able to pull him out each and every time. _Bastiodon, you were quite a sight to behold when you evolved_ thought Byron. Of course, Bastiodon evolving wasn't nearly as amazing when one of the happiest days of his life happened…

Twenty-three years ago…

"Push, Amber, push!" called out Byron to his wife as she began pushing hard. The nine-month long pregnancy was coming to a close, and Byron was going to find out if he was the father of a baby boy or girl. Amber screamed as the head came out, followed by the torso and then the legs. The umbilical cord was still attached, but the doctor cut it off. "Congratulations, Amber and Byron. You're proud parents of a baby boy," said the doctor. Byron held his son within his arms as he saw his pink features. The baby was sleeping, and Byron couldn't help but feel proud. "So, what is his name going to be?" asked the head nurse. "Roark. His name is Roark," said Byron.

Back in the present…

Byron shed a few tears as he thought of the memory. It was a happy memory, but now since his son was most likely dead, the memory stung deeply. _I always thought that Roark would outlive me. I hoped for him to have some kids of his own before I died. Now, that's an impossible dream_ thought Byron. The clock rang 6 p.m., and Byron sighed. "Amber? It's six now. They'll be playing that huge news report on what happened," said Byron. "Leave me alone. I want to mourn my son," said Amber with her face buried in Byron's chest. "Come on, Amber. They may play a few pieces about Roark," said Byron. Amber looked up, then said "If you say so." Picking her up bridal-style, Byron carried his wife to the living room.

Byron had just clicked on the TV when they saw Eddy talking with Rhonda when Eddy's pokétch went off. "Isn't someone calling you, Eddy?" asked Rhonda. "Hey, whoever it is, they'll call back. After all, isn't this interview all about me and what happened to Oreburgh City?" said Eddy. "Asshole" muttered Byron as he shook his head when he heard "Eddy! Pick up!" on Eddy's Pokétch. Eddy brought his Pokétch up to him and said "Hey, Roark! I thought that you were still on your fossil expedition." A picture of Roark appeared on the screen, with Roark's name spelled out at the bottom of it. Amber stopped her crying into Byron's chest and looked up at the screen. "I was, but I broke my leg, and the fossil expedition turned into a disaster. I just saw on the news that Oreburgh City was just destroyed. What the fuck happened?" shouted Roark through the Pokétch. Byron chuckled at his son using a curse word on live TV. "Well, there were some fossil hunters that came by, and they wanted some of our fossils from the mine. They paid a huge sum for me to take them to the tunnels under the city. We took all precautions for…" said Eddy when Roark cut him off. _Really, that asshole went to those tunnels under the city? He knows that those tunnels are the most dangerous part of the mines. Hell, those tunnels were closed off before I left for Canalave City_ thought Byron. "I told you that those tunnels are permanently closed. I told you repeatedly that there was too much damage to those mines for any further excavation for coals and fossils. Plus, there was a dangerous amount of methane gas, and the floor was creeping. Those tunnels were too dangerous to enter in, and I told everybody that those tunnels were off limits forever" said Roark though the Pokétch. "Wow, is Eddy a fucking asshole. He's worse than those fossil thieves that stole all of my fossils a while back," said Byron to himself.

"But Roark, that section of the mines had…" said Eddy before Roark screamed at him "YOU'RE FUCKING FIRED!" Byron couldn't help but laugh at what Roark screamed on TV. "You heard it, Sinnoh. We find out that the Gym Leader is alive, and that Eddy is responsible for Oreburgh City's destruction. We apologize for the amount of cursing coming through this interview. So Eddy, what's it like to be prosecuted for genocide?" asked Rhonda as Officer Jenny arrested Eddy. "I'll get Roark for this!" shouted Eddy as he was dragged away.

Byron couldn't help but laugh out loud for how stupid Eddy was, before he felt a hand on his crotch. He looked down at his wife, who said "Since our son is alive, shouldn't we call him?" "We could do that later, but since you're doing this to me" said Byron as he placed a hand over his wife's hand on his crotch "I'm in the mood for some special mining" as he winked. His wife smiled, and then moved up to his neck and began nibbling on it as he let off a deep growl. Byron then placed his wife's face in his hand before he kissed her deeply on the lips. His tongue licked at her lips before she opened her mouth and allowed him to enter. They tongue-kissed for about fifteen seconds before they ran off to Byron's room.

Amber was lying on her back, naked, as Byron was climbing on top of her, also naked. He moved her legs apart, before he entered her. She let off a deep moan, then sighed as Byron began moving in her. He lowered himself and began nibbling on her neck. "Remember when we used to do this all the time when we were younger?" said Byron as he sucked on the neck skin of his wife. "Mmmm, yes. You always used to call this 'mining for babies', didn't you?" said Amber in pleasure. "Mhmm, and that we used to do this five times a week for hours on end. Now, we could only do this when we visit each other when Roark isn't around" said Byron as he moved his hand to grip her breast. Amber moved her hands up from his back to around his neck, as Byron moved his mouth from her neck to her lips. He moved his hands to her sides, and began moving a little bit faster and harder. After moving for about eight minutes, Byron climaxed. He collapsed next to Amber and pulled her close. "Tired, aren't we?" said Amber as she touched the tip of Byron's nose with her pointer finger. "Heh, I'm just getting old. I'm not as vigorous as I used to be," said Byron as sleepiness overcame him. He yawned, then nuzzled his face into his wife's hair as she nuzzled her face against Byron's neck. They both fell asleep soon afterwards.

While the two lovers were sleeping, hundreds of miles away from them in the cliff that overlooked what was once Oreburgh City there was some movement within a cave near the top. Butch and Cassidy were talking to Prof. Nanba via a laptop. "Did you two manage to blow up the tunnels like I asked?" said Professor Nanba. "Yes, we planted the bomb like you asked. All of Oreburgh City is destroyed and unable to be inhabited for decades. We should have no trouble finding the fossil regenerators within the museum" said Butch. "Afterwards, we'll use our Mecha-Drapion to dig up the fossils within the burning mines. We can regenerate those fossils for our pokémon army" said Cassidy. "Good, but remember, there are lots of fossils within the city's museum, and at the Gym Leader Roark's house. Do not let a single fossil to be left behind," said Professor Nanba before the screen went black. Cassidy looked at Butch and said "We'll start infiltrating the city at nightfall."

Night came, and Team Rocket operated the Mecha-Drapion to infiltrate the museum. They got there and they found several of the fossil regenerators, but some were heavily damaged. "Which one should we take?" said Cassidy. "All of them. There may be some broken parts in all of them" said Butch as they operated the Drapion to remove all of the fossil regenerators. They moved the fossil regenerators to the top of the cliff, and hid them in a spot behind the trees. "Now, lets go get those fossils," said Cassidy as the Mecha-Drapion dug its way through the mountain to get to Oreburgh City.

They took all of the fossils from the museum, then they walked into the section of the museum where all the prehistoric pokémon were brought back to life. They began capturing all of the prehistoric pokémon, then brought them to the top of the mountain. They placed all of the pokémon in cages, before they returned back to the city.

Team Rocket went to Roark's house, and began tearing his place apart while searching for his pokémon fossils. They managed to find a good amount of fossils, before they returned to their hiding spot. "It's too bad the Gym Leader took his Rampardos with him to Unova" said Butch. "Rampardos would have made an excellent present for the boss" said Cassidy.

By morning, Team Rocket had finished raiding the city for fossils. They called out their pokémon, and they told them to keep guard over the fossils and prehistoric pokémon. Aggron, Charizard, Mightyena, Houndoom, Grandbull, Primeape, Sableye, and Raticate patrolled around the site in case any intruders showed up. Aerodactyl, Armaldo, Kabutops, Omastar, Omanyte, Kabuto, Anorith, Lileep, and Cradily all watched from their cages as the Rocket pokémon patrolled. Aerodactyl glared at the Rocket pokémon before he screamed _"Let me out of this cage, and I may spare your puny lives!"_ Aggron walked up to Aerodactyl and sneered _"Ha! Whether you like it or not, you're a Team Rocket pokémon now. Whiny pokémon like you get pushed around and beaten up. I remember a few years ago when a successful pokémon robbery happened, and they brought in this female Aggron. She cried and screamed to be brought back to her trainer, so they brought her to me. Know what I did to her? I fucked her all night long, and I shouted at her 'You like that bitch? You're a fucking whore. Your vagina is so tight, so you like being fucked by a real male?' She actually laid several eggs, and know what we did? We smashed them right in front of her. She screamed and cried and begged us to stop, but we didn't. I fucked her for the last two years, and we smashed her eggs right in front of her. We let some of the eggs hatch, but I killed those baby Aron right in front of her. It took three years for her to toughen up, but sometimes when I'm in the right mood, they allow me to fuck her."_ Aerodactyl glared at Aggron in anger and said, _"You're such a sick bastard. The second that I'm free, I'll destroy your little world. I hope that you meet the pokémon that brought me death. You'll be frozen alive, and will remain so until your remains are brought back to the surface." "Keep dreaming. Team Rocket will find that pokémon and make it theirs. They will conquer the world. You'll see, you'll see. We will rule the world with an iron fist until all pokémon are ours, and all trainers will tremble beneath us. We will find your precious Gym Leader and torture him. He will never see you nor any of his precious pokémon again"_ sneered Aggron. _He'll come back. Just wait and see. He will come back for all of us_ thought Aerodactyl.

Back in Canalave City, both Byron and Amber were waking up. "Sleep good, my precious jewel?" asked Byron. "Mhmm, you were great last night, Byron" said Amber. They kissed each other deeply before they got out of bed and dressed. They had to call up Roark. After eating breakfast, Byron went over to the phone, and discovered that he had a message waiting for him. He played the message, and found out that it was from Roark. He watched the message, and he was shocked to find out that Roark almost died, and that his Onix and Geodude were dead. He felt relived that Roark was doing better, and staying with a female trainer. Byron was surprised that Roark managed to record the mating rituals and nesting behavior between a male Rampardos and female Cranidos, and he was even more surprised when he found out that he got to keep the baby Cranidos that was born. He was a little disappointed that Roark didn't collect any fossils while in Unova, but he was surprised that he got a Drillbur. _Drillbur, I'm going to have to look up that pokémon_ thought Byron as he dialed the number for Roark's Pokétch, and waited as the Pokétch rang.

Back in White Forest, Roark was sleeping when he heard his Pokétch go off. He yawned, then reached for it and answered. "Hello, Roark!" said Byron as his image popped up on the Pokétch. "Hello, Dad. What time is it?" asked Roark groggily. "8:30, why do you ask?" said Byron. Roark looked up at the clock on Izzy's nightstand, then looked down at his father and said "It's 3 in the morning here in Unova" as he rubbed his eyes. Byron noticed a skinny arm wrapping around Roark's chest, then said "So, you said that you were staying with a female trainer?" "Yes, I am" yawned Roark. "All right! My son's a man!" exclaimed Byron happily. Roark took a few seconds to understand what his father said, then became conscious that Izzy was snuggled up behind him while her arm was around his chest. "Dad!" said Roark as he began blushing "Must you bring that up? I don't think that Izzy wants to be embarrassed in this way!" "But son, you managed to prove that you're a man! I'm so proud of you!" said Byron. "Can we please change the subject?" said Roark as he pulled up the bed sheets. "Ok, since this isn't the best time to show that your father that you've become a man. So, I heard that you caught a pokémon known as a Drillbur?" said Byron. "Huh? Oh yeah, I did. Drillbur is a very nice pokémon. Izzy told me that Drillbur are good at digging holes. I'll be bringing Drillbur along with us when we go back to the desert and dig for more fossils, after my leg heals, that is" said Roark. "So, how did you break your leg?" asked Byron with some concern felt in his voice. "One of the native pokémon known as a Krookodile bit my leg, and it broke in several places. Izzy says that I'm lucky that my leg was still attached to my body after that attack" said Roark. "Did you catch that pokémon?" asked Byron. "No, we didn't, but she did have a particular pokémon that she used to fight Krookodile known as an Escavalier. You may like this pokémon, Dad. It's one of the native pokémon here that is a Steel-type. I saw some of the pokémon here, and there's one of the species here known as a Gigalith that I would like to catch before I leave. Izzy said that its pre-evolved forms live within this place known as Chargestone Cave. There are many places that I would like to visit, but not on this trip. I'll return home as soon as I can, Dad. I'm terribly sorry that I didn't call you earlier," said Roark. "We were worried about you, Roark. We're just glad to know that you're alive," said Byron. Roark and Byron looked at each other for a few moments before they said their good-byes and hung up.

On Byron's end, he got up and headed for the kitchen, where his wife was washing the dishes. She looked at him, then said "So, where were you while I was washing the dishes?" "I was talking to Roark," said Byron. She stopped, then stared at him and said "And you didn't tell me?" "Relax, we'll call him up later. Besides, you wouldn't have liked the way that he answered. You know on how I'm always trying to get him to be a man?" said Byron as he folded his arms and leaned against the refrigerator. "Oh, no. You didn't…not while he was with a girl," said Amber horrified. "Relax. He was just asleep with her. They weren't having sex while I called them," said Byron. She looked at him, then said "I still remember how you tried to get him to be a man in previous attempts. You gave him a few dirty magazines, and on his twenty-first birthday, you took him to a strip-bar. He was in shock for a few weeks after that." Byron smirked, then said, "At least he managed to prove his manhood the manly way. I wonder when he decided to prove his manhood in Unova? It's something that I would like to ask him next time." His wife gave him a cold stare, and said "You do that on the next call, and you're sleeping on the couch until he comes back." Byron groaned, then said, "Ok, I won't ask him that" before he moved in and kissed his wife. He loved too much Amber to get into an argument like that and spend a few weeks on the couch afterwards.

_I wanted to have Shieldon in a Scooby-Doo like mine chase (I wanted him to be funny instead on how Bastiodon is serious.) I also wanted to have Byron get a little creative in trying to make his son become a man (I did happen to read one story in which Byron tries, but I clicked the back button because it got a little too freaky for me.)_


	6. Subway Battle

_This will be the last chapter for a while. I am working on a few sequels at the moment, but they won't be posted up until I finish this one first. I don't own Pokémon._

Another week later (in Unova), and Roark's leg was completely healed. He had gotten the cast removed, and could walk again on his own. Izzy was happy that Roark could walk again, and she promised to take him to the desert again the next day. They spent the night in the Pokémon Center, and Roark was having his usual nightmare again. He dreamed that he was digging for fossils in the Relic Castle, when the Krookodile appeared. He looked around for Izzy and her pokémon, but they were nowhere to be found. He reached for Rampardos' pokéball, only to find it missing. He only had Drillbur's pokéball, so he called him out to battle. Drillbur was so small in comparison to Krookodile, and the larger pokémon laughed. A massive sandstorm blew up, and Roark could barely see the two pokémon in the cloud. He heard the Krookodile roar before a blinding light appeared. The light glowed brighter and brighter, until it blinded Roark. He heard the Krookodile scream, before it was cut off, and Drillbur approached him. Only thing was it wasn't Drillbur, but a different pokémon. Roark could only make out the shape, and that it had huge claws and something on its head. The sandstorm was dying down, and the sun gleamed off of its metallic claws and head, until the shine became brighter and brighter…

Something was shining on Roark as he opened his eyes. The sun was shining on his face as Roark got up. "What time is it?" said Roark as he rubbed his eyes. "It's 8:00 in the morning. We'd better hurry down to have breakfast before they close the cafeteria" said Izzy as she left.

Roark was down a few minutes later, and joined Izzy. He was eating some eggs, bacon, hash browns, and was on his first cup of coffee when he saw a gray-furred pokémon with red and black fur making up its mane. It stared at Roark for a moment, before it headed for its trainer. Roark felt uneasy when that pokémon stared at him, but he heard Izzy saying "Roark? You ok? You don't seem so well." "Hmm? Oh, I was just looking at that pokémon over there. I felt a dark presence when that thing looked at me" said Roark. "That pokémon over there?" asked Izzy as she pointed to Zoroark. Roark nodded, then Izzy said, "That's a Zoroark, a very rare and powerful pokémon. Not many people have seen a Zoroark before, but then again, thanks to its ability, it's nearly impossible to identify a Zoroark." "What do you mean?" asked Roark as he stared at Izzy. "Zoroark has the ability Illusion, which makes it change its shape to mimic that of people and pokémon. It's pretty cool to see a Zoroark use Illusion to make itself change shape or change its surroundings," said Izzy. Roark was silent for a moment, then said "So, it could transform?" Izzy shook her head and said "Not exactly. Zoroarks can distort light and the air to create illusions of anything, which it can use to attack its opponents. It's hard to take down a Zoroark."

Just then, Roark noticed a weasel-like pokémon with reddish-brown fur and golden stripes staring at Zoroark. Zoroark used its Illusion ability, but Watchog used foresight to cut through Zoroark's Illusion. Zoroark snarled, but Watchog kept on staring at it. "What happened?" asked Roark. "Watchog used Foresight to cut through Zoroark's illusions, so its ability isn't working," said Izzy before the two pokémon started attacking each other.

Zoroark was clawing at Watchog, but Watchog leapt from table to table, knocking over food as Zoroark plowed through the tables, knocking over pokémon and people. A Servine threw some food at Zoroark, but it hit somebody instead. That trainer tossed some food at Servine, but it whipped the oncoming projectiles out of the way, hitting several people in the process. "Food fight!" called out one trainer as food flew all over the place. Roark just shook his head, before some eggs hit Roark. A vein formed on his forehead before he tossed some food back. Izzy shook her head and said "Men" before something hit her as well. Soon, everybody was in the food fight.

After the food fight within the Pokémon Center, Roark and Izzy headed for the blimps to take them to Nimbassa City. They found the airfield within Black City, and Izzy talked with the ticket salesman. Roark was looking at all the strange pokémon coming and going with their trainers as they passed through the main terminal, wondering what other strange pokémon lived within the Unova region. Izzy came back within a few minutes with two tickets and told him that their flight was departing within the hour. They hurried to their blimp (entitled "Thundurus Cloud"), and got onboard. The blimp was decorated in blue, gold, and purple ornaments, furniture, curtains, and paint. They took a seat nearby the window, and waited for the blimp to take off.

Izzy couldn't help but notice some of the trainers below with some of their pokémon. Some of the trainers were dressed as runway models with some pokémon that seemed to go with their femininity. They boarded the blimp as well, with their pokémon behind them. _Looks like we're going have to put up with them for the blimp ride_ thought Izzy. "Izzy, is something wrong?" asked Roark. She looked up at him, then said, "Oh, I was just looking at some of the fashion models getting on board. Some of them aren't nice people." "Fashion models?" said Roark in a surprised manner. Izzy nodded, then said, "Nimbassa City is a place where fashion models pose for the newest and latest look in the world of fashion. The Gym Leader in Nimbassa City is also a fashion model when she's not battling trainers." Roark was a little surprised to learn that the Nimbassa City Gym Leader was a fashion model. _She must be quite beautiful if she's a fashion model_ thought Roark.

The fashion models got on board, and were being hounded by fans. "Oh, wow! I love your Leavanny, Cecelia," said one fan. "Your Cinccino is so beautiful," said another. "I just love your dress, Cecelia," said a third. Izzy just shook her head, then looked at Roark and said, "They just love the appraisal from their fans. It makes me sick." Roark couldn't help but look at the models and think _Reminds me of some of the contests that I saw in Sinnoh were the trainers make themselves gain more attention than their pokémon._

The blimp took off, and Izzy and Roark had to put up with the constant yapping of the models' fans. Roark looked out the window as he saw several water pokémon swim in the seas below the blimp before he looked to Izzy and said, "I'm nervous about what we'll find in that desert again. I'm worried about…" "Krookodile?" said Izzy as Roark nodded. "Don't worry, I have Mickael, Lancelot, Solarleaf my Torterra, Serperior, and Fraxure on me in case trouble occurs. We'll be fine in the desert," said Izzy. Roark smiled, then said "Thanks, Izzy. I'm happy that we're looking for fossils together. Anyway, I look forward to finding fossils only found in the Unova region." "Going to the desert and digging up old rocks? My, are you two so filthy?" said one model with a Liepard. The other models laughed at Roark and Izzy, and said some nasty things about them. Izzy glared at them, while a vein formed on Roark's forehead. "Oh, and I bet that their pokémon are just as filthy as they are," said another model, when both Izzy and Roark stood up. "Interested in battling in the Battle Subway after this blimp lands? We'll meet you down there" said Izzy. One of the models nodded her head, and then Izzy sat back down as Roark settled down. He was silent for a moment before he said, "Just what is the Battle Subway?" "It's a place where lots of trainers battle each other, sort of like the Battle Towers in the other regions. Instead of battling on levels, you battle within the Subway trains. That's one of the things that Nimbassa City is known for," said Izzy.

A few hours passed by, and Roark and Izzy were within Nimbassa City. The fashion models came out as well, and the group went underground into the Battle Subway. They went to one of the vacant battle trains, and Izzy stood facing one of the models. "Go, Fraxure!" called out Izzy as Fraxure came out. "Go, Liepard" called out one of the models as Liepard appeared. The two pokémon stared down at each other before Liepard made the first move with its Fake Out. Fraxure flinched, and Izzy sweat-dropped before Liepard moved again with Echoed Voice. Fraxure snarled, before he moved with X-Scissor. Liepard got hit hard, but he moved with a Shadow Claw. Fraxure used Dragon Rage, and Liepard used Hyper Beam. The attack took a large amount of Fraxure's hit points, and Fraxure breathed in hard. "Fraxure, use Reversal" called out Izzy as Fraxure used the attack back on Liepard. Being a fighting-type move, Liepard fainted when the attack hit him.

The next model stepped out, and she called out Maractus. "Fraxure, return" said Izzy as she called Fraxure back into his pokéball "Go, Lancelot!" Lancelot appeared, as the armor gleamed in the light. "Woodhammer" called out Maractus' trainer as Maractus aimed her arm at Lancelot. Lancelot stood his ground, and hit with Megahorn. Maractus stumbled backwards, before she used Poison Jab. "What? Why didn't it work?" cried out the model in shock. Izzy shook her head then said, "You see, Lancelot is a Steel-type pokémon, so poison attacks won't work on him. However, he knows a few super-effective attacks on Maractus. Use X-Scissor!" as Lancelot attacked Maractus. Maractus fainted, and the model called back Maractus.

The third model stepped up, and she called out Liligant. As Izzy was prepared to attack, the model shook her head and said, "No, I want to battle your boyfriend." Izzy was in shock, and as she was about to protest, Roark stepped up and placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "I'll battle her." "Ok, but just be careful. Liligant can be a pretty powerful pokémon," said Izzy. "I promise that I won't lose," said Roark as he called out Rampardos. "Rampar" he said as he stared at Liligant. "Lilly, use Mega Drain" called out the model. Lilly began draining Rampardos' energy. "Rampardos, use Head Smash!" called out Roark as Rampardos hit Lilly with everything that it had. Rampardos panted as he placed his hands on his legs as he tried to catch his breath. Roark sweat-dropped as he saw the damage done to Rampardos. "Lilly, use Sleep Powder" called out the model as Lilly shot up blue sparkles and Rampardos inhaled it before falling asleep. "Rampardos, wake up!" shouted Roark, but Rampardos was fast asleep. "Liligant, use Leech Seed!" called out the model as Lilly seeded Rampardos with seeds. "Now, use Solar Beam!" she called out as Lilly began absorbing sunlight. "Rampardos, you got to wake up!" called out Roark, but Rampardos still slept. Lilly shot its Solarbeam at Rampardos, knocking him out of the ring and into a wall. "Rampardos!" called out Roark, but he saw that his Rampardos was knocked out.

Roark called back Rampardos into his pokéball and faced Lilly and her trainer. "So, got any more pokémon?" she smirked. Roark sweat-dropped before he grabbed Drillbur's pokéball and called him out. "Drillbur!" it said. "A Drillbur? Is that the best that you've got? Lilly, use Stun Spore!" said the model as Liligant started sending out yellow sparkles. "Drillbur, Sandstorm!" called out Roark as Drillbur started sending sand flying everywhere. "Lilly, use Magical Leaf" called out the model, as Lilly tried Magical Leaf, but it couldn't hit Drillbur. Lilly then felt the ground beneath her move, as Drillbur sent her flying with Dig. "Now, Fury Swipes" called out Roark as Drillbur began slashing Lilly with his sharp claws. "Petal Dance" called out the model, as Lilly tried to do Petal Dance, but Drillbur used Dig again. She tried to hit Drillbur repeatedly, but the little mole was too fast for the flower pokémon. She soon became dizzy, and Drillbur hit with a Slash attack, knocking out Lilly.

The model called out Lilly, then sent out Zorua. Zorua laughed sneakily, as Roark stared at it. "Drillbur, use Scratch" called out Roark, as Zorua began crying. "Drillbur lowered his guard, and walked to Zorua before she sent out Shadow Ball. "What?" called out Roark. He glared at Zorua, then called out "Drillbur, Mud Slap." "Drillbur" it said as he shot mud at Zorua, but she countered with Dark Pulse. "Drill!" called out Drillbur. "Drillbur, Dig!" called out Roark as Drillbur dug a hole. "Zorua, Detect!" called out the model as Zorua focused, and dodged Drillbur's Dig attack. "Now, Night Daze!" called out the model as Zorua sent a pitch-black wave at Drillbur. Drillbur became confused and scared within the darkness as Zorua laughed again. Roark sweat-dropped as he saw that Zorua had the upper hand in the battle. "Now, use Extrasensory" called out the model as Zorua began sending telepathic waves at Drillbur, hurting him badly. "Drill!" cried out Drillbur as he was shot out of the dark cloud. "Shadow ball!" called out the model as Zorua began firing up a Shadow ball attack. "Sandstorm" called out Roark as Drillbur fired up a second Sandstorm.

Despite the Sandstorm, Roark knew that he was in trouble as Drillbur was quickly running out of steam. "Zorua, used Detect" called out the model as Zorua tried to get a fix on Drillbur, but couldn't focus due to the Sandstorm. "Slash!" called out Roark as Drillbur aimed a well-aimed slash attack at Zorua, sending her flying into a wall. "Zorua!" called out the model as she ran towards Zorua, who was knocked out. "Drillbur, return" said Roark as he called back Drillbur. "You deserve a nice long rest, friend" he said as he stepped down so Izzy could battle. She called out Solarleaf as he stood his ground as the next model sent out Cinccino. "Cinccino, use Light Screen" called out the model as Cinccino sent out a light screen to protect herself. "Hmm, Solarleaf, use Superpower" called out Izzy as Solarleaf sent out a powerful attack on Cinccino. "Cinccino!" she called out as she was struck by the continent pokémon's move. "Iron Tail, Cinccino!" called out the model as Cinccino's tail became metallic in appearance as she jumped above Torterra. "Solarleaf, Frenzy Plant now!" called out Izzy as Solarleaf unleashed his most powerful grass-type move, knocking out Cinccino in one attack. "Noooooo!" called out the model as her scarf pokémon was defeated.

Cecelia stepped up, and looked at Izzy as she said, "Well, I'm impressed that you managed to defeat the others, but now, you have to battle me. Go, Levanny!" she called out as Levanny appeared. "Go, Mickael!" called out Izzy as Mickael appeared. "Leavanny, Leaf Blade!" called Cecelia as Leavanny's leaves glowed as she ran towards Mickael, who dodged it and used Crunch on Leavanny. "Sliver Wind!" called out Cecelia as Leavanny shot out a slivery windstorm at Rampardos. "Ramp!" called out Mickael, but then Izzy shouted "Mickael, Ancientpower!" Mickael fired up Ancientpower at Leavanny, as she buckled from the powerful attack. She then began absorbing solar energy, as Izzy knew what was happening. "Mickael, use Ice Beam!" called out Izzy as Mickael shot Ice Beam at Leavanny. Leavanny then shot Solar Beam at Mickael. "Now, use Leaf Storm" called out Cecelia as Leavanny shot lots of leaves at Mickael. Mickael roared as he fell over. Izzy sweat-dropped as Roark looked at her and said, "Try to use Head Smash on Leavanny. That should knock it out." Izzy looked at Roark and said "Mickael doesn't know Head Smash. With his move set, I doubt that most of them will have an impact on Leavanny's bug and grass type combination." Just then, Mickael stood up and ran towards Leavanny while he was enveloped in a purple sphere with golden beams around it before he hit Leavanny. Izzy looked shocked as she said, "Was that Giga Impact?" Roark looked at her and said, "Yeah that was. Didn't you teach Mickael Giga Impact?" Izzy looked at Roark and said "To be perfectly honest, I didn't bother teaching Mickael Giga Impact, so I guess that he learned it on his own." Roark stared at her wide-eyed and said "How can you not know that Mickael knows Giga Impact with his move set? He has the most diverse move set of any pokémon that I know of, and you didn't know that he knew Giga Impact?"

Mickael was watching the two trainers fight, so he walked up to them and said, "Ramp rampar dos dos rampardos ramp dos dos." Roark couldn't understand anything, so Izzy said "Mickael said that he learned it on his own when he saw it used by Lancelot, so Lancelot taught him to use Giga Impact himself. Apparently, Mickael wanted to add it to his move set." Roark was a little surprised to hear that, and was silent for a moment when Cecelia came over and said, "I'm impressed on how well-trained your pokémon are. I never expected you two to defeat us. Next time we meet, my pokémon will be a lot stronger." "I look forward to the challenge myself," said Izzy as she shook hands with the model.

After having their pokémon healed, Roark and Izzy started their trek to the desert. It wasn't until after dark before the two of them reached the desert. When they found a nice spot, they began setting up camp. After several incidents with the tent (usually involving having it collapse and Roark cursing), it was set up and Roark and Izzy retreated inside. Izzy snuggled up to Roark for warmth as he pulled her close. She looked up at him and said "Interested in getting warmer?" Roark raised an eyebrow, then said, "Well, it is a really chilly night, so (in a low sexual growl) I'm always interested." With that, Izzy began removing her shirt as Roark began unzipping his pants.

Within seconds, the both of them were nude, and they were in Roark's red sleeping bag with Izzy on bottom and Roark on top. He began moving in her as he lowered his body to come in contact with her skin as she wrapped her arms around his upper back. He lowered his head and began nibbling on her neck as Izzy closed her eyes and moaned softly. Roark's muscular body was very warm, and the heat felt great against Izzy's body.

As the two continued to make love, a pair of pitch-black eyes stared down at the tent from afar. Krookodile stared at the tent as he inhaled the scents of both Roark and Izzy. _Soon, my lunch, I shall devour you once you're away from that female of yours_ thought Krookodile as he stared at the tent for a moment longer, then slipped beneath the sands and swam away. While Krookodile swam away, both Roark and Izzy were at their peak before…

"Oh Izzy!" screamed Roark as orgasm hit him. He held his body up for a moment longer as Izzy finished her orgasm before he collapsed on top of her. Sweat dripped down his body as he panted as Izzy was catching her breath. She nuzzled into the crook of his neck as he did the same to her neck before the two of them fell fast asleep, unaware of the danger that was awaiting Roark the next day.


	7. Of Evolutions and Fossils

_Author's note: Sorry that this took so long. I was busy writing that sequel for "Soundwave's Alliance" (the second sequel, or part 3 if you will.) I do not own pokémon._

The sun rose up the next morning, glorious as it always was as Roark yawned. Moving as gently as possible so not to disturb Izzy's sleep, Roark moved out of the sleeping bag. He got dressed, then went outside the tent to cook himself some breakfast.

After breakfast (consisting of sausages, eggs, and coffee), Roark picked up his pickax and headed into the desert to dig up some fossils. He came across a particular area of desert, and began digging. He managed to unearth a Plume Fossil when he felt a particular chilling feeling shoot up his spine and made the hairs on his neck stand. He quickly got up and searched around, but he didn't see anything. _Maybe it's just my imagination_ thought Roark before he noticed some of the sand shifting. He reached for his belt and called out Drillbur. "Drillbur" it happily said as it smiled with its claws extended upwards. It suddenly detected something in the sand, and narrowed its eyes. "Drill" it said as it moved into attack mode.

There was nothing at first, before Krookodile jumped out of the sand and roared. Roark was terrified as he looked directly into Krookodile's eyes and saw the coldest and most malevolent glare in them. He only saw pure evil in them, and that Krookodile wanted to cause Roark harm. Not since the underground cavern was Roark this afraid in his entire life. Drillbur saw that his trainer was in trouble, so Drillbur stepped in between Roark and Krookodile. Krookodile looked down at Drillbur and said in a sinister voice _"What is a pipsqueak like you going to do? Be an annoyance while I devour your trainer?" "Leave him alone!"_ said Drillbur bravely before Krookodile laughed and picked up the little pokémon in between its jaws and began tossing it around before it let go and sent Drillbur flying into a rock.

"Drillbur!" called out Roark, but Krookodile turned his head and faced Roark and roared. Roark began stepping backwards as Krookodile approached, drool coming down in beads from Krookodile's mouth. Before the eye could register any movement, Krookodile jumped and lunged at Roark. Roark managed to hold open Krookodile's jaws as it tried to clamp down on the human's head. Roark's strength was giving out as he tried to keep the pair of jaws from clamping down on him. _Don't try to struggle, human. You're just wasting your strength and making yourself becoming stringy_ thought Krookodile as it felt Roark becoming more and more tired.

While all of this was happening, Drillbur regained consciousness and saw that his trainer was going to be devoured by Krookodile. Drillbur ran and grabbed Krookodile's tail with its two claws. Krookodile noticed this, and looked back in the corner of its eye to see Drillbur trying to pull him away from Roark. Roark saw how bravely that Drillbur was acting, but he knew that if Drillbur tried to fight Krookodile, he'll die. "Drillbur! Get Izzy! You can't win against him!" called out Roark as Krookodile began redirecting his attention to Drillbur. Drillbur glared angrily at Krookodile before he began glowing.

"Drillbur?" said Roark in confusion as Drillbur began glowing brighter and brighter as it became bigger and bigger. Where Drillbur once stood was now a dark brown pokémon with a steel head and steel claws. This pokémon was staring at Krookodile and it looked mad. Before Roark could pick up any movement, the new drill pokémon tossed Krookodile into the air, sending the Intimidation pokémon flying. The new pokémon then jumped up and moved its claws to its steel head and began spinning around. Roark was staring in awe as the mole-like drill pokémon was defending him against the desert crocodile pokémon as the two fought. Krookodile roared, then charged at Roark's pokémon, but the other jumped out of the way before its steel claws turned silver and slashed at the dark type pokémon. The creature roared, then saw the steel head glow on the other before it began rotating before it charged at him, with Horn Drill in effect. Krookodile tried to jump out of the way, but was hit as the drill came in contact with him, making him faint. Roark was in shock at his evolved pokémon, before it turned to him and looked at him with an unreadable expression. A few seconds passed, before Roark said "Oh, right. Go, pokéball!" as he grabbed an empty pokéball from his belt and threw it at Krookodile. A red laser came out of the ball, enveloping the Intimidation pokémon before he got sucked inside the ball and the ball clamped shut. The ball's button glowed for a moment, shook, then fell still.

Roark was silent as he looked at the pokéball, before the other creature picked it up and carried it to him. "Thanks, Drillbur" said Roark as he took the pokéball and petted his pokémon on its head. "Drill" said the other, happy that his Roark was ok and alive. "Roark!" called out Izzy as she came running towards him. Roark turned his head and saw Izzy running, her size getting bigger as she came closer to him. "Roark, are you ok?" she panted as she stopped when she got to him. He nodded, then said "I am, thanks to Drillbur here. We managed to capture Krookodile together." Izzy took a moment for all the information to sink in, then said, "You caught the Krookodile with Excadrill?" "Excadrill? Is that what Drillbur is?" asked Roark. Izzy nodded, then said, "Excadrill is Drillbur's evolved form. It is now both a ground and steel-type pokémon when it evolved." "So, you're a steel-type pokémon? My father is going to love meeting you," said Roark as he ran his hand over Excadrill's horn. "Drill" said Excadrill.

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully, with Roark and Izzy both digging up lots of plume and cover fossils together. Mickael, Excadrill, and some of the other pokémon helped out their trainers dig up fossils for Nacrene City and a few for Roark to take home (about 90% of the dug-up fossils were for the Nacrene City museum, though.) Soon, they had all the fossils that they needed before they headed for Nimbassa City for the railroad that would take them to Nacrene City.

It took them a few hours, but they were on the train heading for Nacrene City, and Roark was petting Cranidos on her head while Izzy was staring out the window. The train was moving along as it passed by fields, towns, mountains, rivers, lakes, and various other landscapes. It was a long voyage, but they made it to Nacrene City without any incidents. When they arrived at the station, they were passing one of the television monitors when the newscaster stated "Breaking news: the Dream Thief Leon and his pokémon Beheeyem have escaped from prison today during a riot. These two are extremely dangerous for their psychic crimes and have been known to cause illusions that confuse many pokémon trainers while the pokémon themselves get stolen. Their whereabouts are unknown, but the police think…" as Izzy looked up at the screen and shook her head, muttering "I can't believe that he got out." "Why? You know him?" asked Roark. Izzy looked at him and spoke to him while they walked. "I've read about him in the papers. He stole a lot of pokémon from trainers over the years. He uses his psychic pokémon Beheeyem to cause people to fall asleep in a living dream while they take the other trainers' pokémon. I hope that he meets a Darkrai and the both of them have eternal nightmares," said Izzy. Roark was silent as some people from the Nacrene museum showed up to transport the fossils to their new home. He knew of the Darkrai that would frequently visit Canalave City, and he remembered the horrible nightmares that he had. Whoever this Dream Thief was, he must be quite a horrible person to deserve such nightmares.

He continued to be silent as he thought back to when the fossil regenerator and the prehistoric pokémon were almost stolen by Team Rocket. It was a horrible experience, and he had a feeling that those goofballs were inferior to what this Dream Thief can do. Before he knew it, Izzy, himself, and the fossils were at the Nacrene City Museum. Roark was in his own thoughts before Izzy shook him out of it by asking "Roark? Roark? We're here. Were you paying attention to me?" "Huh? Uh…yeah, I was. I, er…" said Roark before Izzy laughed then said "I was just kidding, Roark. I was admiring the city while you were deep in thought. What were you thinking about, by the way?" Roark looked a little bit annoyed then said, "I was thinking about the Dream Thief. Is he as really as bad as you said he was?" Izzy nodded, then said, "There was a trainer I once met at the Pokémon Center who had his pokémon stolen by the Dream Thief. He was pretty miserable on how he lost all of them to that guy. Among the stolen was his starter pokémon that he got at the start of his journey. He was training for the Unova League, but since his most powerful pokémon were stolen, he had to train for another year. His heart wasn't into the battling spirit when I saw him lose in the first round."

Roark was silent before a man in a gray suit with glasses approached them. "I see that you finally got those fossils in, Roark" said the man. Roark looked at him, then said "Yeah, it took a while to dig them all up, but I managed to do the job." Izzy remained silent, before the man looked at Izzy and said "And, who is this young lady?" "That's Izzy; she's the one who saved my life and gave me a place to stay while my leg healed from the desert incident." The man nodded, then said, "The wing where the fossils will go will have a plaque that will list the names of the ones who died while excavating. Lenora kept on telling me that we should have hired Clay to dig up the fossils, but he was away in a different region at the time…" before he fell silent.

A huge awkward silence hung in the air, before one of the workers said "Hey boss, where do you want this Cover Fossil? It's getting really heavy." "That goes in the Sea Exhibition part of the wing," said the man before he left to direct where each and every fossil would go. Roark couldn't help but notice some of the inappropriate ways some of the workers were handling the fossils, and he thought _Ok, that is not how you handle a fossil in that condition. I'm surprised that they haven't even dropped one yet._ Roark began walking, when Izzy followed him and asked "Roark, is something wrong?" He looked at her and said "Some of those workers aren't handling the fossils properly, and they're liable to break." "Roark, I think that you're getting a little overprotective of the fossils. They're the museum's property now, not yours" said Izzy. "Izzy, I may have been hired to dig up those fossils, but I know how to properly care for one" replied Roark. The two got into a little argument, before they heard a "Yaaaahhhh!" followed by an "Owwwwwwwwww! My foot!" Roark and Izzy looked at the museum, then at each other, then raced inside the museum.

The two found a worker clutching his right foot while hopping around on his left, saying "Ow, my foot!" Roark rushed over to the fallen Cover Fossil, and inspected it for any cracks. The man from before rushed in, then asked, "What happened?" "Ow! A Yamask appeared from out of nowhere, and I dropped a Cover Fossil on my foot" said the worker. "The fossil hasn't suffered any damage, it's ok" said Roark before he picked up the fossil. Izzy had a sweatdrop on her head as she thought _Really? A worker just had a heavy fossil drop on his foot, and you're concerned if it was damaged or not?_ "Ya" said a voice before a Yamask appeared. Roark took one look at it before he felt chills running up and down his spine. Yamask approached Roark and stared at him. The two stared for a few minutes before Yamask disappeared. "So, it looks as if our old friend Yamask has decided to reappear" a woman's voice said before a dark-skinned woman with blue pants, blue hair, and a white shirt came out from a corridor. Roark turned his head then said, "What do you mean by 'old friend'? Have the two of you met before?" The woman nodded, then said "When my husband Hans accidentally locked up Yamask's mask for one of our exhibits last year, Yamask began haunting him until he got his mask back." The man called Hans rubbed the back of his neck and said sheepishly "Yes, Lenora managed to talk to Yamask to stop haunting me after some of the hauntings he gave me." "I couldn't help but notice the both of you referring to Yamask as a 'he;' how do you know it's gender?" asked Izzy. Both Hans and Lenora looked at Izzy, as Hans said, "It's because I heard Yamask talk. He was very angry that I locked up his mask, and that it was really important to him."

"Yeah, that's bound to get one of those things mad" said Izzy. Yamask continued to appear and disappear as the exhibition was set up, but soon things were finished. Roark was staring in amazement at a gigantic Dragonite fossil that the museum had, and Izzy was looking at some of the other exhibits. The museum impressed Roark a lot, with all of its fossils in it, when a trainer came in with a Cover Fossil. "Lenora, can you bring this fossil back to life?" asked the little boy. "Of course. Follow me" she said. Roark couldn't help but overhear the conversation, then looked at Izzy and asked, "They can revive fossils here?" "Yeah, the Nacrene City Museum is one of the few places in Unova where trainers can restore their fossil pokémon. It's quite impressive" replied Izzy. "I'm interested in seeing what technology they use to restore fossil pokémon" said Roark. "I'll show you the Fossil Restoration equipment" said Hans as he led Izzy and Roark to the lab.

The trainer already had his pokémon in a pokéball when he left the room, and Hans showed Roark the equipment. "How long does it take to bring a fossil pokémon back to life?" asked Roark. "It takes a few minutes to restore a fossil, but we could only restore small fossil pokémon. We're still trying to get the technology to restore larger fossil pokémon," said Hans. Roark stared at Hans in shock, before he stuttered "Only a f-fe-few m-min-minutes? It takes twenty-four hours to restore a fossil in Sinnoh!" "Oh, so you haven't upgraded the technology to restore a fossil?" said Hans. A sweatdrop appeared on Roark as he said "Well, the museum hasn't upgraded its equipment due to a lack of funds, but then again, it does get pretty expensive to feed all the restored pokémon at the museum. Now, I'm not sure if any of the fossil pokémon are still alive since Oreburgh City was destroyed." "Right, I saw the news. If you had a fossil, we could restore it" said Hans as Roark reached into his bag and brought out a Plume Fossil. "Well, I did unearth this one in the desert. I think that it might be the first one that I dug up in the desert…right before that Krookodile broke my leg," said Roark.

"We can show you how we restore Plume Fossils in the Unova region. Maybe Sinnoh can acquire the technology soon," said Hans as he took Roark's fossil and placed it in the machine. There were a lot of lights as the machine restored the fossil, and a yellow, red, and blue prehistoric bird-like pokémon came out. "Ar" it said. "Wow, is than an Archen?" asked Roark. "Yes it is. With the help of Musharna's Dream Mist, we can bring prehistoric pokémon back to life" said Hans. "Who's what?" asked Roark as he looked at Hans. "Musharna's Dream Mist. Musharna is a pokémon native to the Unova region, and it produces a dream mist from its head. That's how we can revive fossil pokémon in a few minutes. Of course, we only have Dream Mist dust at the museum, but we can bring back fossil pokémon within a minute if we had an actual Musharna here" said Hans. "A minute!" exclaimed Roark as he turned his neck really fast. "Ow!" said Roark as he placed a hand on his neck. "Pulled a muscle or two?" asked Izzy as she raised an eyebrow. "Ar" cawed Archen before it began hopping around, as if it was looking for something.

"It looks as if Archen is hungry" said Lenora. "Ar" said Archen as it hopped towards Roark's backpack and began pecking at it. "You want something in there?" asked Roark as Archen cawed. He unzipped his backpack, and began rummaging through it, bringing out several pokémon food containers. Archen tried to bite down on the cans, but only managed to succeed in almost choking itself. "Here" said Roark as he managed to open up one of the containers, and Archen was happily muching on some pokémon food. Archen ate all of the pokémon food, then yawned and blinked at Roark. "Ar" it cawed happily, then hopped on Roark's arm. "OW! Those are some sharp claws that you have, Archen" said Roark with some tears on the sides of his eyes. "Ar" it said.

Roark reached into his pocket, and took out an empty pokéball. "Ar?" said Archen as it hopped from Roark's arm to his leg. "Ow!" said Roark again as Archen's sharp nails dug into his skin again. Archen pecked at the pokéball, which expanded, then pecked at it again, in which Archen got caught in the ball. Hans, Izzy, and Roark had stunned expressions on their faces as Lenora smiled and said "Looks like that you have a new pokémon, Roark."

Later that day, both Izzy and Roark left the museum and were on the train back to Nimbassa City. "So Roark, do you want to got to Chargestone Cave to capture a Roggenrolla? Or do you want to go back to White Forest and go to the Chargestone Cave another day?" asked Izzy. "Well, I do want a Roggenrolla before I leave Unova, but how far is Chargestone Cave?" asked Roark. "Well, Chargestone Cave isn't too far from Mistralton City, and that city is very far from where we are" replied Izzy "It's your choice." Roark remained silent for a moment, then looked up at Izzy then said, "Let's go back to White Forest. I think that we both should relax for a while before we start out on our next adventure."


	8. What Now?

_Here's the last chapter in this story. I will post up the sequel when I can. I do not own pokémon._

Two weeks have passed since Roark went to the Nacrene City Museum, and he was asleep on the couch. Cranidos was sleeping next to him, dreaming. Izzy just came in from the backyard, and went over to the couch. She looked down at Roark, and gently stroked his cheek with a finger. He moved a bit in his sleep, so Izzy continued to gently stroke him. Roark yawned, then opened up his eyes to find Izzy looking at him. She winked, and Roark got an idea of what she was thinking. Careful to not to disturb Cranidos, he got off the couch and followed Izzy upstairs.

Spectral was in her room when she heard two loud screams. There was quiet for a few minutes before Mickael came storming down the hall. Spectral floated through the door, and followed Mickael. _"Mickael, what's wrong?"_ asked Spectral. Mickael looked at his Dusknoir friend, then said _"I had to use the bathroom, and when I flushed, both Izzy and Roark got freezing-cold water. The both of them were upset that I disturbed their bath together, and neither of them considered my feelings during the disturbance. I was so embarrassed to know that the bathroom was already occupied after I had to…" "Mickael, please, no more details"_ said Spectral as Mickael stopped. He sighed, then said _"Since Izzy has that boyfriend of hers, it's getting harder and harder to tell who is the alpha of this house."_

Later that evening, Roark and Izzy were on the couch, with Izzy's head in Roark's lap as he stroked her hair. The both of them were watching an old movie that had a gigantic Haxorus destroying a large city when Mickael walked down the stairs. Roark gave Mickael a nasty look, and the Rampardos stared at the human for a moment before he walked off.

Mickael walked off into the yard, then looked up at the night sky. Thousands of stars were twinkling above him, and he sighed. He didn't like looking up at the sky much, and thought back to when he died that night so many millions of years ago. He missed the rest of his family, but except for his brother, they were most likely all buried beneath the ground. "Ar" cawed Archen as he hopped close to Mickael. Mickael looked down at the prehistoric bird pokémon as he said _"So, how do you like being alive again?" "Not bad. It's weird having a hairless bipedal pokémon to take care of you, but I do like it when the thing feeds me"_ cawed Archen. Mickael laughed, then said _"Roark is a human, and humans are our friends. The both of us work together, share memories together, and coexist with each other. Izzy is my human and…she's like a sister to me in a few ways."_ Archen then looked up at the sky, and said _"I remember the last time that I looked up at the sky. The stars were so beautiful when all of a sudden; dark clouds came. I remember seeing something within the clouds, then… nothing. I can't recall what happened after that, but the next thing that I knew, I have a… human feeding me. I wish I could remember what happened after I saw that creature in the clouds"_ cawed Archen. Mickael was silent, then looked up at the sky and thought _A creature in the clouds…was something in that meteor from long ago?_

Izzy got up early the next morning, then got out of bed and headed downstairs to fix breakfast. Roark came down half an hour later, and was sitting down reading the paper when he thought that he heard something. He looked behind him, but saw nothing, then resumed reading what was going on. He heard the same sound again, then looked behind him once again, but saw nothing. _Weird_ thought Roark as he tried to find where he left off before he heard loud drumming and Mickael came marching in with a tambourine, a baton, and Night Shadow on his back playing the drums. Roark was staring at the two in pure horror, shock, confusion, and fright as the two pokémon passed him and out into the garden. Izzy emerged from the tree line, chucked as she saw her two pokémon, then walked inside her house.

She saw the look on Roark's face, then asked, "Roark, what's up? It looks as if you seen a ghost." It took a few moments for Roark to answered before he said "Wha, what was going on? Why were Mickael and Night Shadow acting like that?" "Oh, that's a ritual that those two do all the time. They come up with ideas for Pokémon Musical, and act out what they're going to dance to and what instruments are they going to play. Usually, they do their ideas in the forest, but sometimes they do their act in here. But" she said as she sat down opposite of Roark "their dance numbers always end in the Basculin Bite Dance." Before Roark could ask what the Basculin Bite Dance was, Mickael ran around the yard screaming as a Red-Striped Basculin was biting on his tail. _"Yahhh! Get this thing off of me!"_ screamed Mickael as he ran around in circles.

A week after Roark saw the infamous "Basculin Bite Dance," he asked Izzy if now would be a good time to visit the Chargestone Cave. "You really want to see those floating rocks, right?" she said. "That, and I really do want to catch a Roggenrolla" said Roark as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Hours later, Roark and Izzy were on the blimp to Nimbassa City. Roark brought along his Rampardos and Excadrill while Izzy brought along Mickael, Infernape, and Fraxure. Roark was looking out at the night sky, and saw the countless stars twinkling above. Izzy was looking out at the sky as well, then said to Roark "You're going to love the Chargestone Cave, Roark. All of the rocks were glittering like the sky that you see before you. Plus, I've heard a rumor that there was supposed to be some sort of legendary cave that acted as a shrine to Zekrom." "What's a Zekrom?" asked Roark as he looked at Izzy. "Zekrom is a legendary pokémon from the Unova region. He's supposed to be an electrical dragon and his lightning is said to hold up the sky" she said. He looked at her, then said "Have you've ever seen him before?" She shook her head, then said, "No, I haven't. Darkrai was the only legendary pokémon that I've seen. I still wish that I've never met him. He caused so much pain to myself and my pokémon." Tears were starting to form in her eyes, so Roark reached out and pulled her close to him. She rested her head on Roark's shoulder as they watched the night sky together.

It was very late at night when they got to Nimbassa City, so they checked into the Pokémon Center. Roark cuddled up to Izzy, and held her close to him. She rested her head against his chest, and the both of them held each other for a long time before they fell asleep. Morning came quickly, and Roark and Izzy got up. Within an hour, they left the Pokémon Center and took a train to Mistralton City. The train ride took several hours, but they managed to arrive in Mistralton. When they got off the train, it was getting dark, so they headed for the Mistralton Pokémon Center. They managed to get a room, and they stayed there for the night. They both got up early the next day and headed for the cafeteria for breakfast.

When they got there, the found the place packed, but they were lucky to find a table just for themselves. "There seems to be an awfully lot of trainers her, Izzy. Is there supposed to be a gym here?" asked Roark. "Yeah, there is, Roark. The gym leader here is Skyla, and she's a tough flying-type gym leader. Lots of people from all over the Unova region come to challenge her for a badge, and she manages to defeat a good amount of them. She also knows how to fly a plane, so if we're lucky, we might see her flying above us when we leave Mistralton City" said Izzy. "She flies a plane?" said Roark. "Yeah, her gym is actually part of an airport" said Izzy. "There's an airport here, and we took the train?" said Roark in partial shock and anger. "It's for cargo planes, not passenger planes, Roark. But, there are a few planes that are supposed to take you to this special pokémon sanctuary where there is supposed to be a shining Haxorus that is really strong. A good number of trainers have gone there, but none have come back with the Haxorus" said Izzy. "What's a Haxorus?" asked Roark. "It's a dragon-type pokémon. Those things are really strong, and many trainers have great difficulty battling one, let alone capturing one. My Fraxure becomes a Haxorus when it evolves, but unfortunately for me, they evolve at a really high level, so I still have a long ways to go" said Izzy. _So Haxorus are strong pokémon…just like that different-colored Metagross that I've heard my father warn me about. It would be interesting to see that different-colored Haxorus, or even a normal Haxorus…wonder what they look like?_ Thought Roark as he continued to eat.

An hour later, both Roark and Izzy were heading for the Chargestone Cave when they saw a plane fly above them. A young woman flew it, and Izzy said "See that plane? That's flown by Skyla." "So that's Skyla…she flies that plane well" said Roark. They both watched Skyla fly her plane for a while, then headed down their path to Chargestone Cave.

It took a few days, but they were finally at the Chargestone Cave, and Roark was pretty excited. They went inside the cave, and the whole interior glittered as if the rocks were alive. Roark could only stare in amazement as he saw the rocks glow, and he was shocked to find the floating rocks within. They levitated above the ground, and they both saw some pokémon attached to them. They had yellow fur, and blue eyes, plus, they were very small. "What are those things?" asked Roark as he pointed to them. "Those? Those are Joltiks, an electric and bug type pokémon. Those things are cute, aren't they?" said Izzy. _Wow, she thinks that they're cute? Aaron would think that they are_ thought Roark. "Joltik" said the little bug pokémon before they hopped off their rock and scattered elsewhere in the cave. They walked around for a bit, until they saw a round rock-like pokémon with two feet, a hole in the center, and a stony head-crest. "What is that thing?" asked Roark. "That's a Roggenrolla" said Izzy. Roark looked at her and said "So, that's the pre-evolved form of Gigalith. I'm going to catch it" as he took out Rampardos' pokéball. "Go Rampardos" called out Roark as Rampardos appeared "Use Head Smash!" Rampardos did a Head Smash on Roggenrolla, but Roggenrolla seemed unaffected. "Roark? Roggenrolla's ability is Sturdy, so one-hit KO attacks won't affect it" said Izzy. Roark looked at Izzy and said "So now you tell me? Ok Rampardos, do Zen Headbutt" as Rampardos attacked Roggenrolla again. Roggenrolla fired its Mud-slap attack, which did a great deal of damage to Rampardos. Rampardos did another Head Smash on Roggenrolla, which seemed to do some damage this time, but Rampardos fainted. Roark called back Rampardos, then called out Excadrill. "Excadrill, Metal Claw" called out Roark as Excadrill's claws glowed silver before they did some damage to Roggenrolla. Roggenrolla glowed silver, then attacked with its Tackle. "Excadrill, use Dig followed by Drill Run" called out Roark. Excadrill drilled its way underground, and Roggenrolla stayed put. It jumped out of the way before Excadrill surfaced, then fired its Flash Cannon at Excadrill.

Excadrill slid back, then charged at Roggenrolla with Drill Run. Drill Run did a great deal of damage to Roggenrolla, but the wild pokémon still wouldn't give up. It fired Stone Edge at Excadrill, but Excadrill countered that with Rapid Spin. Excadrill did one last Metal Claw, which was the knock-out move on Roggenrolla. "Go pokéball!" called out Roark as he threw a pokéball at Roggenrolla. The ball caught Roggenrolla, shook a few times, then it stopped moving, and Roark went over to pick it up. "I finally got myself a Roggenrolla" said Roark to himself. "So Roark, what are you going to do now? You've dug up those fossils in the desert, and now you have a Roggenrolla, so what's next?" asked Izzy. Roark looked at Izzy, then thought for a moment. He knew that he couldn't go back to Oreburgh City; that was destroyed, and the gym wouldn't be opened up until the entire city had been rebuilt at a different site. He didn't feel like going back to his parents at Canalave City just yet, and as much as he loved fossils, he didn't feel like going on another expedition just yet.

"Well" he said after a short while "I was thinking of staying with you until they rebuild Oreburgh City, then we could go back to Sinnoh together." "The Sinnoh region?" repeated Izzy as she fell silent. Roark was silent for a moment, then repeated "Are you ok, Izzy?" She looked up, then said "I've never thought of going back after what happened with Darkrai. It's been so long since I've last been to my home region, so I don't know what's changed. I was always alone with my pokémon after what happened to me, but…" before she fell silent. After a pause, she resumed "But since I'm with you, I don't feel so alone anymore. It's almost as if I can face anything if I'm with you. Ever since I'm with you, I felt happiness that I've haven't had in a long time." Roark smiled, then pulled Izzy close to him as he kissed her deeply. She kissed back, and they kissed for a long time.

When Roark went to Unova, he knew that he would find some rare fossils there. What he didn't expect was to find something more precious.


End file.
